Nationals’ Sean Doolittle Declines White House Invitation

Washington Nationals reliever Sean Doolittle will not be attending the White House with the rest of the team after their World Series win. Despite wanting to spend as much celebratory time with his teammates as possible, his aversion to Donald Trump has caused him to skip out on the team’s trip Monday. Dolittle spoke to The Washington Post about the decision. 

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“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. My wife and I stand for inclusion and acceptance, and we’ve done work with refugees, people that come from, you know, the ‘shithole countries,’ ” Doolittle said, referencing comments Trump has made about Haiti, El Salvador and African nations. Doolittle continued, “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.”

“I have a brother-in-law who has autism, and [Trump] is a guy that mocked a disabled reporter. How would I explain that to him that I hung out with somebody who mocked the way that he talked or the way that he moves his hands? I can’t get past that stuff,” Doolittle added.

The team is scheduled to make their trip to the White House on Monday.