DeSantis needles MLB for removing 2021 All-Star Game from Atlanta due to outcry over Georgia's voting laws
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis agreed in a recent interview that MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred should apologize for taking the All-Star Game away from Atlanta in 2021 in response to Georgia’s voter laws.
DeSantis said on "OutKick the Show" with Clay Travis that MLB responded to a "fake narrative."
"The Democrats lie. The corporate press amplifies the lie. There becomes a frenzy and then people just genuflect to that. And that’s not responsible," the Republican presidential candidate said. "You have to look to see whether this is truthful or not. And that’s why a lot of those companies – Coca-Cola or whatever – a lot of people were not happy with them. Because look, if they really did Jim Crow 2, as a corporation speak out against it. I mean that’s fine. But that was a lie.
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Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a campaign rally on June 26, 2023 in Eagle Pass, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
"This was very common sense stuff. It was not targeted at anybody. And as you say, the elections that have happened since then, there was massive turnout. And there’s zero, zero truth to that. But if you read the bill at the time, you knew it was a lie then."
DeSantis also agreed there should be accountability for everyone involved over the furor, including the media.
"They would never admit a mistake. But I mean that was a false narrative," he added. "And it was knowingly false because if you would have done any research you would’ve known that it wasn’t true and yet they parrot it, parrot it, parrot it, create a narrative (talking about) ‘Georgia you can’t vote’ or whatever, and that was an absolute lie. And that’s just what they do."
MLB did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during the Family Leadership Summit in Des Moines, Iowa, Friday, July 14, 2023. (Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK)
Manfred said earlier this month that Atlanta was "in the mix" to host the All-Star Game in the future.
He said back in 2021 that Atlanta would "certainly be an option at some point in the future," but not unless change "I would need to see" was made, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
However, no laws have changed since they were implemented.
The law places new restrictions on voting by mail, adds voter ID requirements and limits ballot drop boxes. It also mandates two Saturdays of early voting ahead of general elections, an increase from just one, and leaves two Sundays as optional. The law also bans outside groups from handing out food or water to those waiting in line to vote.
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Manfred's decision to move the game out of Atlanta in 2021 came via pressure from Stacey Abrams, sources told Fox News Digital at the time.
Abrams told a senior league official that she wanted him to denounce the Georgia voting rights law, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. People associated with Rev. Al Sharpton's civil rights organization, and LeBron James's voting right group, "More than a Vote," also pressured league officials, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.
After these conversations, Manfred believed the All-Star Game would be turned into a political event and players would boycott the game, those people said. Sources said at the time that Abrams’ current stance, that she is disappointed about the Georgia boycott, is suspect because she was among the most prominent political operatives to pressure the league to denounce the new law.
Manfred said the decision was made after discussions with the MLB Players Association and its Players Alliance.
The league said Georgia's law "opposes restrictions to the ballot box." President Biden called the law "Jim Crow on steroids."
However, Georgia's voters set the record for most ballots cast before Election Day in a midterm election, according to state election officials, debunking claims from top Democrats that the state's election law would lead to voter suppression.
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred speaks to the media at the Grapefruit League Media Day Feb. 16, 2023 in Dunedin, Florida. (Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports)
When combing early voting and absentee ballots, Georgia exceeded 2.5 million votes cast before Election Day
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Texas' Globe Life Field will host next year, while the game will be at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia in 2026. Atlanta hosted the game in 1972 and 2000.
Fox News’ Ryan Morik contributed to this report.
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