Twitter is President Donald Trump’s favorite app to share his honest thoughts on hot political topics, usually opting to tweet his most controversial opinions. On Monday, Trump lashed out at the NASCAR Cup and the series’ only Black driver Bubba Wallace, criticizing its ban on the Confederate battle flag.
In the tweet posted Monday morning, Trump takes aim at 26-year-old driver Bubba Wallace, asking, “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?” The ‘hoax’ in question refers to an incident where what had appeared to be a noose found in Wallace’s garage recently was actually just a pull rope and not meant to terrorize the driver. The incident was not ruled a hoax, as the President claims.
Trump continued by adding, “That & Flag decision has caused lowest ratings EVER!,” falsely claiming that the sport’s recent anti-racist stance on the Confederate flag lowered its television ratings.
Wallace has been a consistent critic of the Confederate flag and its commonality at NASCAR races, advocating for their banishment from events. “No one should feel uncomfortable when they come to a NASCAR race,” Wallace said last month. The racing organization announced days later that the flag was banned from all NASCAR events.
NASCAR had previously asked fans in 2015 to not fly the flag following the Charleston church shooting where 9 Black churchgoers were slain by Dylan Roof, but many fans ignored the request at the time.