On October 27th, during the fifth World Series game between the Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals, the Jumbotron in National Park showed a shot of President Donald Trump, his wife, and a group of GOP lawmakers who were attending the game. If you follow sports, or politics, or know anyone who does, you probably know what happened next: Nationals fans booed the president, also throwing in a cheer of, “Lock him up!” for good measure. Reading about it the next day, my reaction was a bemused chuckle.
But it didn’t end there.
On October 30th, the Nationals held a viewing party at National Park for the final game of the World Series (being played in Houston), and fans booed a Trump ad showed on the Jumbotron. Three days later, UFC fans in New York City would boo the President when he attended an event at Madison Square Garden.
In the span of a week, people showed their displeasure three different times for President Trump. And I don’t want to say that he deserves being booed. But, see, here’s the thing…
He totally deserves being booed.
***
I remember the day when I first thought Donald Trump shouldn’t be president.
That’s actually unfair. I’ve never thought the dude should be president. I was never watching an episode of The Apprentice and thought, “You know, I would totally vote for that dude.”
Quick aside, only because I think this is hysterical: My wife and I would occasionally watch The Apprentice, and if I wanted to make her laugh, which I always do, I would always do the same thing. There is a scene in every episode where contestants go through a waiting room, past an attractive secretary, to get to the board room to see who would be staying and who would be fired. I would always pretend that the secretary really had to pass wind, but had to wait until she was alone, waiting until the moment the last person was in the room before I would make a ridiculous fart noise.
Back to Trump’s political ambitions and when my concerns began. It wasn’t the day when he gave what Ann Coulter proudly calls his “Mexican rapist speech,” though that definitely gave me pause. It was slightly more than a month after that.
On July 21, 2015, Donald Trump was at a rally in South Carolina, the state which Senator Lindsey Graham presides over. Trump was angry with Graham, who had called him a “jackass” the day before. So, first came the typical insults, calling Graham a “lightweight” and an “idiot”. Then came an embarrassing story about how Graham had begged Trump to put in a good word for him at Fox & Friends. This was all standard to the Trump playbook.
What happened next, however, surprised me. I can guarantee it also surprised Lindsey Graham.
Donald Trump decided it would be a good idea to recite Graham’s cell phone number at the rally, which was also being carried by C-SPAN. Graham’s phone (a flip phone, no less) was so deluged with phone calls that he had to change his number.
At the time, it was surprising. Now, it’s all just Trump being Trump.
***
Before we continue, it’s only fair to point this out: Donald Trump is far from the only president to be booed at a sporting event. Hell, he’s not even the first president to be booed at a Nationals baseball game.
Barack Obama got booed in 2009 at the MLB All-Star game, though that may have been the result of wearing a White Sox jacket to Busch Stadium. Bill Clinton was booed at a NASCAR event. The other president booed by Nationals fans? George W. Bush.
So, there’s something of a recent history for this happening. Though, as far as frequency goes, President Trump is kind of crushing it.
***
Would I boo the President?
I don’t know.
This is going to sound corny, particularly at this point in history, ESPECIALLY ON THE INTERNET, but I’m still one of those dudes who respects the office of the president. It’s why I still make sure to use the title.
I know people who try and talk big and say, “If I met Trump, I’d spit in his face and call him a so and so and blah blah blah….” I’m not one of those guys.
If you are, though… I kinda get it.
***
The one thing President Trump supporters like to say about the president is that he “punches back.” Melania Trump once said of her husband, “when he is attacked, he will punch back ten times harder.” And for his fans, the writing is clear: come after our guy, and he will come after you with the intensity of a rabid dog.
It’s important at this point to mention that President Trump always believes there are people coming after him.
I’m not saying Donald Trump started ugly politics. Throwing mud at your political opponents goes back to the days when people would, literally, throw mud at people who didn’t agree with them. The president, however, seems to be the living embodiment of everything wrong with politics. As for what it says that he is where he is now… well, it’s not great. You can be happy with his policies (for the record, I’m not) and happy with where we are as a nation (again, not me), but I think we all realize that the climate has changed. And that there are people who think it’s changed for the better is frightening.
However, because President Trump has gotten this far the way he has, he now has to live with the consequences. When you act the way you act, there are people who are going to love you, and he surely sees enough of them at his rallies. But there are also going to be people who have had enough. There are going to be people who stand up and boo you.
To put it another way, when you throw a punch at our nation, you can’t be surprised when our nation punches back. Or, at the very least, The Nationals.
Fancy Boys Club 