As Governor Brian Kemp (R) called out Stacey Abrams on Tuesday for her role in the removal of the 2021 MLB All-Star Game from Atlanta, the state’s speaker of the house pressed the commissioner of baseball for answers.
“Last year, Stacey Abrams pressured MLB to move the All-Star Game out of Georgia. After costing Georgia businesses $100 MILLION in lost revenue, imagine the damage Abrams would cause to our economy if she’s elected governor,” Governor Kemp said on Tuesday.
State House Speaker David Ralston (R-GA-07) sent a letter on July 6th to Commissioner Manfred citing the Peach State’s record voting numbers in 2022.
“I call on you to award a future MLB All-Star Game to be played at Truist Park in the coming years. The sooner this announcement is made, the quicker we can all put this unfortunate incident behind us,” Georgia Speaker of the House David Ralston said.
Georgia Representatives Barry Loudermilk (R-GA-11) and Buddy Carter (R-GA-01) sent Commissioner Manfred a letter on Monday about the issue.
“MLB listened to the leftist lies instead of the facts about Georgia’s election law when they decided to move the ’21 All-Star Game out of GA, and it cost hardworking Georgians millions,” Loudermilk said. “Read the letter @RepBuddyCarter and I sent MLB Commissioner, Rob Manfred, demanding answers.”
The pair inquired about when the All-Star Game will return to Atlanta, what the MLB intends to do to remedy the loss, and what steps the league will take to depoliticize baseball.
“I am calling on the MLB to redress harm caused by pulling the All-Star Game from Atlanta. Their decision was based on disinformation and must be corrected,” Carter said.
The MLB and President Biden have yet to retract their accusations that Senate Bill 202, also called the Election Integrity Act, was designed to suppress voters.
“Cancel culture has hit America’s favorite pastime in a devastating way. The MLB was quick to spread false information and punish Georgia’s baseball community and small business owners but is silent now that those claims have been proven false,” Congressman Carter said.
In their letter, Loudermilk and Carter asked Manfred if the MLB communicated with anyone before they made their decision, including local communities around Truist Park and members of the Georgia General Assembly.
“It’s vitally important for organizations, like Major League Baseball, to look at the facts and not the woke mob’s lies and falsehoods,” Loudermilk said. “Unfortunately, MLB didn’t do that when it pulled the 2021 All-Star Game from Georgia; because, if they had, they would have realized the falsehoods being spread about Georgia’s election law were nothing more than baseless talking points from Stacey Abrams and her allies, which have been debunked even by liberal newspapers.”
Additionally, Loudermilk and Carter requested that MLB engage with lawmakers in the future before coming to such impactful decisions.
“Georgia’s recent primary had record turnout, and MLB’s claim that the law is discriminatory was proven totally false, Congressman Loudermilk said. “MLB’s shallow virtue signaling had real world consequences for the people of our state. Hardworking Georgians deserve an apology from MLB.”
The opponent of Senator Raphael Warnock and Trump endorsee, Herschel Walker, expressed his thoughts on the topic and went after the senator in the process.
“For many Americans, tonight’s All-Star Game is a celebration of our favorite pastime, but for Georgians, it’s a gut-wrenching reminder of Warnock’s Woke boycott which ran the MLB out of Atlanta – and killed a $100 million boost to Georgia’s economy,” Walker said on Tuesday.
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Addison Basurto is a reporter at The Georgia Star and The Star News Network. Follow Addy on Twitter and GETTR. Email tips to [email protected].
