In a move that seemed bound to happen at some point, the man who constantly refers to “fake news” went after NASCAR and Bubba Wallace for the so-called “fake noose.”
In a Monday morning tweet addressed to Wallace, President Donald Trump attacked NASCAR’s only Black driver and criticized the racing series for banning the Confederate flag.
“Has Bubba Wallace apologized to all of those great NASCAR drivers & officials who came to his aid, stood by his side, & were willing to sacrifice everything for him, only to find out that the whole thing was just another HOAX?” Trump wrote. “That & Flag decision has caused lowest ratings EVER!”
The “hoax” Trump is referring to was a noose being discovered in Wallace’s garage prior to the Geico 500 at Talladega Speedway in late June. Though an FBI investigation determined the noose had been hanging there for months and that no hate crime had been committed, it makes total sense Wallace and his team believed the hate symbol had been left for him, especially after he successfully lobbied for NASCAR to ban the Confederate flag.
Just look at the noose itself:
NASCAR releases photo to the media of the garage pull rope formed as a noose from the Bubba Wallace garage Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway.
This image was provide by NASCAR. pic.twitter.com/Z4ZyBzpREF— Marty Smith (@MartySmithESPN) June 25, 2020
For some reason, Trump apparently has a problem with the outpouring of support Wallace — who has been racing with a “Black Lives Matter” livery at times this season — received from his fellow NASCAR drivers after the noose was found. He also seems to have an issue with NASCAR banning the symbol of the Confederacy at its events. (Guess he should be tweeting at the state of Mississippi too.)
Whatever the reasons for the tweet, the ratings Trump was referring to were for Sunday’s running of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. At the race, Kevin Harvick took advantage of Denny Hamlin’s tires giving out with seven laps to go to win his second straight Brickyard.
Wallace finished in ninth place and Corey LaJoie, who was racing with “Trump 2020” painted on his car, finished second-to-last in 39th place.
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