So as you may have heard by now, the Boston Red Sox visited Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday to celebrate their 2018 World Series victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Much of the talk before and during the event focused on the apparent racial divide on the Red Sox, with many of the team’s minority members, including manager Alex Cora and 2018 American League MVP Mookie Betts, passing on the appearance.
But once you get by that storyline, there were several gaffes committed by Trump and the White House on Thursday worth noting.
Gaffe No. 1
The White House had a small problem in its announcement of Thursday’s visit by the Boston Red Sox, initially spelling it “Socks.”
The @WhiteHouse [1] spelled @RedSox [2] as "Red Socks" on its website and @YouTube [3] pages ahead of today's event: "President Trump Welcomes the 2018 World Series Champions The Boston Red Socks to the White House" (it's now fixed). https://t.co/lZAttYHWMS [4] pic.twitter.com/0cwmlanq0D [5]
— Steve Annear (@steveannear) May 9, 2019 [6]
I mean, I get not everyone is from Boston or a Red Sox fan, but shouldn’t the people in the White House know better? Do a little fact checking?
Gaffe No. 2
The White House sent out notes on the ceremony, apparently thinking the Red Sox had won the World Cup AND the World Series.
Inbox, from the White House:
"Remarks by President Trump Welcoming the 2018 World ***Cup*** Series Champions Boston Red Sox"
(emphasis mine)
— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) May 9, 2019 [7]
Another big mistake. But hey, at least they spelled “Red Sox” correctly this time!
Gaffe No. 3
This is the most horrifying one. During his remarks, Trump said he was going to give the Red Sox a tour of the Lincoln Bedroom in the White House:
And I just want to have Chris Sale and J.D. Martinez — two outstanding players and athletes and people — come up and say a few words. And then, after that, I’m going to take — unless the team doesn’t want to do it — you know, they never get to see Lincoln Bedroom. It’s like, sort of, you’re not supposed to be showing it. So if the press, the media, doesn’t report me for this, I’m going to take them up and show them the Lincoln Bedroom. They wanted to see the Lincoln Bedroom. So I’m going to give the tour myself. Okay?
However, when asked about the tour later in the day, it sounded more and more like Trump thought Abraham Lincoln lost the Civil War. You read that right.
Red Sox chairman Tom Werner spoke to reporters after the White House tour and said this happened:
Trump “is a pretty good raconteur of history and he did say that, uh—he was talking about Abraham Lincoln losing the war and said ‘Well, I know you guys have lost a game or two, but this was a war.’”
So the Red Sox's Tom Werner spoke to reporters briefly and said this happened:
Trump "is a pretty good raconteur of history and he did say that, uh—he was talking about Abraham Lincoln losing the war and said ‘Well, I know you guys have lost a game or two, but this was a war.’”
— Elaina Plott (@elainaplott) May 9, 2019 [8]
I’m confused. Does Trump think that Abraham Lincoln lost the Civil War? I’m not sure how else to read this?
— Elaina Plott (@elainaplott) May 9, 2019 [9]
Does…does Trump think Lincoln and the Union lost the Civil War?! https://t.co/g3X5Kxc24d [10]
— Blair Miller (@blairmiller) May 9, 2019 [11]