The Dodgers under fire for White House visit

On Monday, President Donald Trump welcomed the reigning World Series champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers, to the White House. During the event, the president offered words of encouragement to the players who played pivotal roles in securing the championship title.

Trump welcomes World Series winners to the White House

“I’m thrilled to welcome to the White House very special people actually, very talented people - the 2024 World Series champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers. I want to congratulate you on a legendary season, and I watched it very closely. Some of those teams were home teams and you did a big number, you’re really amazing how it all came out and how it all ended,” President Trump began.

The president drew attention to several players during the event, including Shohei Ohtani, who made history as the first baseball player to achieve 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. He also praised Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto and National League Championship Series MVP Tommy Edman for their outstanding contributions.

Dodgers co-owner Mark Walter and pitcher Clayton Kershaw delivered brief speeches, with Kershaw even presenting Trump with a Dodgers jersey featuring the number 47 on the back.

However, the visit sparked controversy, as a significant portion of the fanbase felt that the values upheld by the Dodgers franchise and the Trump administration were at odds. In response, Dodgers president Stan Kasten issued a statement addressing the concerns.

Dodgers president: “This isn’t about politics”

“This has nothing to do with politics,” Kasten said. “For everyone in this room, this is about what they get as their reward for being world champions, getting to the White House. I think there are probably people in this room who have different points of view on politics. No one thought this trip is about politics, it’s about celebrating their world championship".

He continued, Either way, whenever there’s politics involved, there’s approximately half of the fan base that feels one way and half that feels the other way. That’s everywhere. That’s how we are on political issues. We didn’t view it through a political prism. We viewed it through the reward that all of these players have spent their lives trying to achieve, and they deserve it and they wanted to do it.”

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