MLB Legend Mariano Rivera Fires Back Against Attacks He's Receiving for Supporting Trump
Former New York Yankee Mariano Rivera, the undisputed greatest closer in baseball history, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday.
Welcome to baseball immortality, Mariano Rivera. @Yankees #HOFWKND pic.twitter.com/xigpUEPHSI
— Baseball Hall ⚾ (@baseballhall) July 21, 2019
The Daily Beast, a left-wing publication, celebrated the achievement by railing against Rivera for his “far-right politics” in a lengthy article that lamented the fact that he had “managed to keep his political leanings hidden for decades.”
What a shame. If only they’d found out about his politics earlier, they could have rallied the outrage mob in an attempt to cut short one of the greatest careers in MLB history.
The Daily Beast’s chief evidence for Rivera’s sinister “far-right” views?
1. He’s an outspoken Christian.
2. He’s friends with Donald Trump.
3. He likes Israel too much.
Nailed him!
The article blasts the Panama-born pitcher for having “served at the pleasure of a racist president” and “taken part in thinly veiled propaganda on behalf of a far-right government in Israel.”
Rivera, apparently unaware that accusations of racism-by-association are supposed to be enough to end a man in this day and age, went on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends” on Wednesday to defend himself.
“President Trump, he was a friend of mine before he became president,” the former Yankee said.
“So, because he’s president I will turn my back on him? No. I respect him. I respect what he does and I believe he’s doing the best for the United States of America,” he said.
“When it comes to Israel, as a Christian, my savior, Jesus Christ, he’s a Jew. So how am I going to turn my back and say I won’t support Israel?” Rivera asked.
He was then asked if he had a message for the article’s author.
“You have the power to say whatever you want to say, but that won’t change my position,” Rivera said.
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