Rubio writes letter asking MLB league commissioner if he'll now 'sacrifice' his Augusta golf membership in protest at Georgia's new election law - after taking All-Star Game out of Atlanta in 'corporate virtue signaling move'
Republicans are pushing back on 'woke' Coca-Cola and Major League Baseball, businesses that have agreed with Democrats and objected to Georgia's new voting law.
Sen. Marco Rubio wrote a letter Monday to MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred telling him he should give up his Augusta golf club membership since he also decided to pull the All-Star Game from Atlanta. 'As you are well aware, the exclusive members-only club is located in the State of Georgia,' Rubio remarked.
Additionally, eight members of Georgia's House of Representatives wrote to Coca-Cola and told the company that they no longer wanted free Coke products for their offices and asked the Atlanta-based soda giant to remove their remaining pop 'immediately.'
Sen. Marco Rubio (left) wrote a letter Monday to Major League Baseball Commissioner Robert Manfred (right) asking him if he planned to give up his August membership after pulling MLB's All-Star Game from Atlanta, all over Georgia's new voting law
Additionally, eight Republican members of Georgia's House of Representatives wrote a letter to Coca-Cola telling the soda company that they wanted its product out of their offices 'immediately'
Sen. Marco Rubio sent a letter Monday to MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred asking whether he'd give up his membership to the August golf club
Coca-Cola currently distributes products to legislative offices for free.
Republicans have complained that the uproar over the Georgia law is disingenuous, because aspects of it actually create more opportunities for voting.
'Should Coke choose to read the bill, share its true intentions and accept their role in the dissemination of mistruths, we would welcome a conversation about to rebuild a working relationship,' the Georgia GOP lawmakers wrote in their letter.
Democrats have pointed to prohibitions found in the bill, like giving people water who are standing in line.
Over the weekend, former President Donald Trump pushed supporters to boycott the major companies that have spoken out against the GOP-pushed law, including Coca-Cola, MLB and Delta Airlines.
Trump, however, was spotted with a Coke bottle on his desk in a social media posting from Monday.
While former President Donald Trump called for a Coca-Cola boycott over the weekend, a Monday social media posting from adviser Stephen Miller showed the trademark red bottle behind the phone on his Mar-a-Lago desk
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday that President Joe Biden wasn't 'dictating' that the All-Star Game be pulled from Atlanta, but rather he supported Major League Baseball 'being able to make the decision'
In an interview with ESPN's Sage Steele (left) last week, President Joe Biden (right) was asked about the All-Star Game potentially being moved from Georgia. 'I think today's professional athletes are acting incredibly responsibly. I would strongly support them doing that,' he said
SAVED BY THE BUN: Psaki was being quizzed about a misstatement Biden made about the Geogia voting law when a female Easter Bunny appeared at the end of Monday's press briefing to mark the day that would have been the Easter Egg Roll
Meanwhile, the White House tried to walk back President Joe Biden's support for pulling the All-Star game out of Georgia, with press secretary Jen Psaki saying comments he made Wednesday to an ESPN reporter shouldn't have been interpreted as a full-fledged endorsement.
'He was not dictating what Major League Baseball should do ... dictating they should move the All-Star Game, that was their decision, they made that decision and, as he stated earlier, he certainly supports that,' press secretary Jen Psaki said during Monday's briefing.
Biden was asked during a sit-down with ESPN's Sage Steele last week what his view was on the possibility that the All-Star Game could be moved.
'I think today's professional athletes are acting incredibly responsibly,' Biden replied. 'I would strongly support them doing that. People look to them. They're leaders.'
On Friday, MLB announced that the game would no longer be held in Atlanta.
'Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box,' Commissioner Rob Manfred said.
Since then, Georgia's Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and other prominent GOP officials, like Sen. Ted Cruz and Newt Gingrich, have complained about it being the victim of 'woke' and cancel culture.
At Monday's briefing, Psaki re-read the question posed by ESPN's Steele on Wedneday and then Biden's response.
She denied trying to rollback what was widely interpreted to be an endorsement of the coming move.
'I'm trying to articulate clearly to everyone what he said and what the context of his remarks were, the question that was asked and the full scope of his answer,' Psaki explained. 'And I think it's been short-handed to no one's fault because it's been repeated a bit without the full context.'
The press secretary said that Biden 'supports them being able to make the decision.'
'And respond to what their players' asks are, given many of them are, of course, impacted by these laws,' Psaki continued.
Psaki said the White House wouldn't advocate for specific boycotts or moves, as she was asked about the upcoming Masters Tournament - also played in Georgia - and events in other states that might be considering laws to restrict voting.
'That's not something we're calling for from the White House,' she said. 'Our focus is on working with Congress to put in place voting rights legislation, working with leaders like Stacey Abrams and others who are advocating more expanded laws.'
Abrams, a voting rights activist who ran for Georgia governor and lost in 2018, wrote in an op-ed last week that boycotts of Georgia businesses may be premature and negatively impact working people.
When asked Monday whether Biden considered the financial damage of pulling the All-Star Game from Atlanta Psaki replied, 'Again, he was doing an interview ... he answered the question.'
The White House's decision not to lean into Biden's initial indication of support for moving the game is in stark contrast to the Democrat's predecessor, who loved engaging in the culture war.
When sports teams acted too 'woke' President Donald Trump would make them a display - including disinviting the Philadelphia Eagles from the White House, to have a patriotic event on the South Lawn instead, or having Vice President Mike Pence walk out of an Indianapolis Colts game after players kneeled during the playing of the National Anthem.
Psaki also wouldn't say that Biden mispoke when he blasted the Georgia voting law during his first official press conference in late March saying that the law cut off voting at 5 p.m.
That statement earned him 'Four Pinocchios' from The Washington Post.
The law states that voting ends at 7 p.m. and people in line can still fill out their ballots.
Rather than acknowledge Biden's fib, Psaki told reporters, 'I think what's important is to report on all the components that make it more difficult to vote in the package, in the legislation.'
That was Psaki's last question before an intrusion by the Easter Bunny, this one a lady rabbit played by press aide Meghan Hays.
In lieu of the traditional Easter Egg Roll, the White House Monday had a male Easter Bunny appear with Biden and first lady Jill Biden on the Truman Balcony to deliver a holiday message.
Then a second bunny crashed Psaki's press briefing.
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