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Rubio ask MLB's Manfred if he'll give up Augusta National after pulling All Star game from Atlanta

The Florida GOP senator dismissed MLB moving the game from Atlanta as "woke corporate virtue."

Published: April 6, 2021 9:22am

Updated: April 6, 2021 9:38am

Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio is asking Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred whether he’ll relinquish his personal membership at Georgia’s Augusta National Golf Club, after he pulled the league's 2021 All Star game out of Atlanta in opposition to the state’s newly revised election laws.

MLB and other major businesses have opposed the voting-integrity law drafted by Republican legislators and enacted last week by GOP Gov. Brian Kemp, saying the changes suppress voting rights and unfairly target minority voters.

Rubio argued in a letter sent Monday to Manfred that MLB has no problem conducting business with countries like China and Cuba that prohibit democratic elections and partnering with Tencent – "a company with deep ties to the Communist Party and actively helps the Chinese Government hunt down and silence political dissidents?"

"Taking the All-Star game out of Georgia is an easy way to signal virtues without significant financial fallout. But speaking out against the Chinese Communist Party would involve a significant loss of revenue and being closed out of a lucrative market," Rubio wrote.

"I am under no illusion that Major League Baseball will sacrifice business revenue on behalf of its alleged corporate values. Similarly, I am under no illusion you intend to resign as a member from Augusta National Golf Club. To do so would require a personal sacrifice, as opposed to the woke corporate virtue signaling of moving the All Star Game from Atlanta."

The exclusive club is home to The Masters, among golf’s most prestigious tournaments. The newly enacted laws have also sparked calls for the PGA Tour and the club to move the tournament, which starts next week, out of Georgia. 

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