Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday he would’ve rejected a Major League Baseball (MLB) request to move its All-Star Game to Texas.
“We want to have nothing to do with it,” Abbott said on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom.” The MLB announced April 2 it would not be hosting its All-Star Game at Georgia’s capital in response to the state’s recently signed voter integrity law.
President Joe Biden urged the MLB to move the game because of the voter law, but used misleading arguments. The Washington Post gave Biden four ‘Pinnochios’ after he claimed that Georgia’s legislation would limit early voting. (RELATED: In The Name Of Social Justice, MLB Moved All-Star Game From Mostly Black City To Mostly White City)
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Abbott announced Monday he wouldn’t participate in the first pitch of the Texas Rangers’ opening home game due to the MLB’s involvement in political matters. The Texas Senate voted 18-13 to pass a voter restrictions bill on April 1.
“I will not participate in an event held by MLB, and the state will not seek to host the All-Star Game or any other MLB special events,” Abbot said in the announcement.
The bill, or S.B. 7, would end drive-thru voting entirely, limit extended hours for early voting and make it unlawful for local officials to send absentee ballot applications unless requested by a qualified voter. The bill would also permit partisan poll watchers to record voters who need assistance in filling out their ballot.
Although the state went to great lengths to host the World Series in 2020, the MLB is currently taking political positions against Texas and Georgia’s voting laws, Abbot said. The Texas Republican said multiple businesses, both worldwide and from the U.S., seek to come to Texas, but “businesses that are criticizing Texas leadership” won’t get assistance.
“What we did to help Major League Baseball for it to have the World Series here last time, we’re not going to do anything like that again either for Major League Baseball or for these other businesses that want to criticize the leadership that has led to Texas being the best state in the United States for business,” Abbott said.
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