Nationals Pitcher Turns Down White House Visit

A World Series victory regularly comes with an invitation to the White House. However, one pitcher is turning down the trip.

Washington Nationals reliever Sean Doolittle said that he wouldn’t participate in the team’s trip to the White House. Doolittle made it clear to the Washington Post that this decision was driven by the issues he has with Donald Trump.

“There’s a lot of things, policies that I disagree with, but at the end of the day, it has more to do with the divisive rhetoric and the enabling of conspiracy theories and widening the divide in this country,” Doolittle said. “At the end of the day, as much as I wanted to be there with my teammates and share that experience with my teammates, I can’t do it.”

The pitcher is aware that pundits will say that he’s disrespecting the president by not going to the White House, but he feels that Trump has disgraced the position more than his pending absence. He also considered how white supremacists latched on to Trump’s rhetoric.

“It feels like now people with those beliefs, they maybe feel a little bit more empowered,” Doolittle said. “They feel like they have a path, maybe. I don’t want to hang out with somebody who talks like that.”

The Nationals won all their road games over the Astros en route to their first ever championship. Doolittle was pivotal during Washington’s championship run. He had two saves and three holds during the nine games he played in the postseason.