{"id":1494462,"date":"2022-05-27T11:14:56","date_gmt":"2022-05-27T15:14:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1494462"},"modified":"2022-05-27T11:15:05","modified_gmt":"2022-05-27T15:15:05","slug":"dimwitted-fact-checker-stacey-abrams-didnt-support-mlb-boycott-she-actively-lobbied-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dimwitted-fact-checker-stacey-abrams-didnt-support-mlb-boycott-she-actively-lobbied-for\/","title":{"rendered":"Dimwitted Fact Checker: Stacey Abrams Didn\u2019t Support MLB Boycott She Actively Lobbied For"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdimwitted-fact-checker-stacey-abrams-didnt-support-mlb-boycott-she-actively-lobbied-for%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1494462&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"wpsdc-drop-cap\">I<\/span>n the latest case of Democrat PR disguised as fact checks, PolitiFact\u2019s Louis Jacobson is informing us that Stacey Abrams didn\u2019t support the MLB All-Star Game boycott she actively lobbied for to protest \u201cvoter suppression legislation\u201d (that ended up being followed by <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/democrats\/stacey-abrams-jim-crow-suppression\/\">record voter turnout<\/a> in the state).<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Thanks to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NilesGApol?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@NilesGApol<\/a> for the hat tip on this one<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Louis Jacobson (@loujacobson) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/loujacobson\/status\/1529205301982920704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 24, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The entirety of Jacobson\u2019s \u201cfact check\u201d has has to do with Abrams\u2019 public comments, but politicians often change those based on public opinion. Abrams did noticeably change her rhetoric about the virtues of boycotts when it became clear just how unpopular the All-Star boycott would be, but she did indeed help directly cause it, almost single-handedly.<\/p>\n<p>Charles Gasparino, who covered the MLB fiasco, confirmed that MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred\u2019s decision to pull the game out of Atlanta came after speaking Stacey Abrams, which Gasparino noted \u201cis odd since she has now said she\u2019s against the boycott.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">SCOOP: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MLB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@MLB<\/a> sources say owners were blindsided at least by the timing of <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RobManfred?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@RobManfred<\/a>&#8216;s decision to pull the All-Star game from Atlanta. Also said his decision came after speaking w <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/staceyabrams?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@staceyabrams<\/a>, which is odd since she has now said she&#8217;s against the boycott. Story developing<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CGasparino\/status\/1379845340795392002?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 7, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Gasparino reported <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/stacey-abrams-urged-mlb-commissioner-move-all-star-game\">soon after<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>Abrams told a senior league official that she wanted him [Robert Manfred] to denounce the Georgia voting rights law, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. People associated with Sharpton\u2019s civil rights organization, and James\u2019s voting right group, \u201cMore than a Vote\u201d also pressured league officials, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>After these conversations, Manfred believed the All Star game would be turned into a political event and players would boycott the game, these people say.\u00a0 <strong>Baseball sources say that Abrams\u2019 current stance, that she is disappointed about the Georgia boycott, is suspect because she was among the most prominent political operatives to pressure the league to denounce the new law<\/strong>. James has publicly supported the Georgia boycott.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>People close to Manfred believe Abrams\u2019 group and Sharpton also wanted the league to support other issues, including voter drives and H.R. 1, the For the People Act \u2014 sweeping election reform that recently passed the House.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThey wanted us to do more than just a pre-game ceremony\u2026Baseball would have to be in the market for doing stuff involving voting rights,\u201d a senior MLB executive with direct knowledge of the matter tells Fox News.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Manfred decided the easiest way to deal with the matter was to leave Georgia, according to a source.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The \u201cfact checker\u201d Jacobson doesn\u2019t even acknowledge any of the active lobbying on Abrams\u2019 part, and instead based entirely off her public statements. But anti-boycott statements from Abrams from after her changed in tone are irrelevant.<\/p>\n<p>The largest part of the \u201cfact check\u201d is spent downplaying an infamous <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/usa-today-stacey-abrams-op-ed-georgia-boycott\">USA Today op-ed<\/a> where Abrams argues that the advancement of civil rights has relied on economic boycotts, but comes just short of literally telling people to boycott in an article romanticizing them. Despite that, Abrams later had stealth revisions made to the article, and changed statements to make the article sound anti-boycott. Of note,<em> these revisions were after the MLB moved the All-Star game out of Atlanta<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Jacobson includes the following quote from the original op-ed to argue Abrams wasn\u2019t calling for boycotts in an article extolling them:\u00a0\u201cOne lesson of boycotts is that the pain of deprivation must be shared to be sustainable. Otherwise, those least resilient bear the brunt of these actions; and in the aftermath, they struggle to access the victory. And boycotts are complicated affairs that require a long-term commitment to action. I have no doubt that voters of color, particularly Black voters, are willing to endure the hardships of boycotts. <em>But I don\u2019t think that\u2019s necessary \u2014 yet.<\/em>.. I ask you to bring your business to Georgia and, if you\u2019re already here, stay and fight. Stay and vote.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jacobson does acknowledge that USA Today \u201cquietly updated the op-ed a few days alter,\u201d which he apparently doesn\u2019t find at all suspicious. The standard is for articles to include an editor\u2019s note of revisions\u00a0 \u2013 that this was done without that should raise some red flags. USA Today\u2019s parent company <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/gannet-apologizes-for-stealth-editing-stacey-abramss-op-ed\">Gannett<\/a> eventually apologized for this journalistic malpractice, which Jacobson makes no mention of. He then wrongly says that the updated version makes \u201cessentially the same arguments against a boycott as the initial version did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yet Jacobson makes no mention of the paragraph immediately <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20210331210632\/https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/opinion\/2021\/03\/31\/voter-suppression-will-corporations-redeem-themselves-column\/4820354001\/\">preceding the one he quoted, which was heavily edited to change its meaning.<\/a> \u201cThe impassioned response to the racist, classist bill that is now the law of Georgia is to boycott in order to achieve change,\u201d Abrams originally wrote. \u201cEvents hosted by major league baseball, world class soccer, college sports and dozens of Hollywood films hang in the balance. At the same time, activists urge Georgians to swear off of hometown products to express our outrage. Until we hear clear, unequivocal statements that show Georgia-based companies get what\u2019s at stake, I can\u2019t argue with an individual\u2019s choice to opt for their competition.\u201d The first sentence was kept the same, but the rest of the paragraph was changed to \u201cEvents that can bring millions of dollars to struggling families hang in the balance. Major League Baseball pulled both its All-Star Game and its draft from Georgia, which could cost our state nearly $100 million in lost revenue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The original article began with the sentence: \u201cBoycotts work. The focused power of No, trained on corporate actors used to being told Yes, can yield transformative results. That line was changed to \u201c\u201cBoycotts work \u2014 when the target risks losing something highly valued and the pain becomes unbearable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While interpreting Abrams\u2019 public comments is basically irrelevant in light of her private actions, the original op-ed reads like a threat; that she\u2019s not saying there will be a boycott, but there sure are a heck of a lot of reasons why there could be one. And if she didn\u2019t at least think so, why the need for all the changes, and why were they done silently?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Matt Palumbo is the author of\u00a0<i data-stringify-type=\"italic\"><a class=\"c-link\" tabindex=\"-1\" href=\"https:\/\/posthillpress.com\/book\/man-behind-the-curtain-inside-the-secret-network-of-george-soros\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-stringify-link=\"https:\/\/posthillpress.com\/book\/man-behind-the-curtain-inside-the-secret-network-of-george-soros\" data-sk=\"tooltip_parent\" data-remove-tab-index=\"true\">The Man Behind the Curtain: Inside the Secret Network of George Soros<\/a><\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Don\u2019t miss The Dan Bongino Show<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the latest case of Democrat PR disguised as fact checks, PolitiFact\u2019s Louis Jacobson is informing us that Stacey Abrams didn\u2019t support the MLB All-Star Game boycott she actively lobbied<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":498,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1494462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1494462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/498"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1494462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1494462\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1494462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1494462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1494462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}