Washington Nationals pitcher Sean Doolittle will not be going to the White House on Monday, he revealed in a new interview.
“There’s a lot of things, policies that I disagree with, but at the end of the day, it has more to do with the divisive rhetoric and the enabling of conspiracy theories and widening the divide in this country,” he told The Washington Post. “At the end of the day, as much as I wanted to be there with my teammates and share that experience with my teammates, I can’t do it.”
Doolittle and his team were all invited to the White House to celebrate their World Series win last week. He is the first player to publicly pull out of the event, though The Washington Post reported several others were “wrestling with the decision” over whether to attend.
The hometown team defeated the Houston Astros, 6-2, in Game 7 of the series. In addition to the White House, a victory parade for the Nats took place Saturday.
Trump himself, a longtime sports fan, came out for Game 5 and was met with jeers, boos and chants of “lock him up” from fans.