Last week, President Trump said he was going to be throwing out the first pitch before a Yankees home game, probably on August 15, after being asked to do so. “Randy Levine is a great friend of mine from the Yankees,” Trump told reporters on Thursday, referencing the Yankees’ president. “And he asked me to throw out the first pitch, and I think I’m doing that on Aug. 15 at Yankee Stadium.”
Three days later he announced through this tweet that he had to postpone until later in the season:
Because of my strong focus on the China Virus, including scheduled meetings on Vaccines, our economy and much else, I won’t be able to be in New York to throw out the opening pitch for the @Yankees on August 15th. We will make it later in the season!
According to a new report from The New York Times, Trump's initial announcement came as a huge surprise to Yankees officials, on account of the fact that no invitation was ever extended. As The Times wrote: "Mr. Trump had not actually been invited on that day by the Yankees, according to one person with knowledge of Mr. Trump’s schedule. His announcement surprised both Yankees officials and the White House staff."
As to what would motivate the initial claim, the NYT, citing "an official familiar with his reaction," said that Trump didn't like when Dr. Fauci was the focus of attention after throwing out his (really bad) first pitch before the Yankees-Nationals game on Thursday. In response to seeing Fauci get coverage for his throw, Trump is reported to have directed aides to contact Yankees officials to cash in a "longstanding offer" from Levine to throw an opening pitch. An official date to do so was never finalized.
Those in the White House then "scrambled" to report to the Yankees that the president was busy on the August 15 date he had publicly announced, thereby canceling a date that was never booked.
Cue the embedded tweet above.
If you’re thinking this is kind of dumb all-around (which I’d back you on) the Times uses the piece to build on the already-existing narrative that there’s tension between Trump and Fauci.
