The Washington Nationals confirmed Friday that they did not invite President Donald Trump to throw out the first pitch during Game five of the World Series against the Houston Astros.
Instead, the Major League Baseball (MLB) team gave the honors to José Andrés, a celebrity chef who owns several restaurants in the DC area and has been highly critical of the president.
I’m humbled by the invitation, and I realize is a big big big honor but I really hope that by Saturday night all of WASHINGTON will be celebrating that the @Nationals are the 2019 @MLB World Series Champions… https://t.co/V6EvP9L7Lr
— José Andrés (@chefjoseandres) October 25, 2019
Andrés got into a spat with Ivanka Trump in 2018 when he accused her of trying to deny him entry to a party at Cafe Milano in the Georgetown neighborhood of DC. Andres later admitted that he was not on the exclusive guest list for the private event and that Ivanka had nothing to do with the snub. (RELATED: Immigrant Celebrity Chef With Long-Time Trump Feud To Shut Down DC Restaurants In Protest)
Trump told reporters on Thursday that he plans on attending Game 5 of the series but claimed he is not interested in throwing out the first pitch because “a lot of heavy armor” would make him look “too heavy.”
Trump says he’s attending World Series on Sunday; doesn’t know if he’ll throw first pitch since doing so would require donning “a lot of heavy armor” that might make him look “too heavy”
— Kevin Liptak (@Kevinliptakcnn) October 24, 2019
The Washington Nationals are currently leading the series 2-0 and will play Game three on Friday in DC.