President Trump on Monday said via Twitter that NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace should apologize to those who stood beside him after his racing team discovered a noose in his garage stall at Talladega Superspeedway on June 21, describing the incident as a “hoax.” Trump added an assertion that the Wallace incident combined with NASCAR’s ban on the Confederate flag at its races have led to historically low television ratings for the stock-car circuit. . . .
During a White House briefing later Monday, [White House press secretary Kayleigh] McEnany insisted that Trump was not weighing in on the wisdom of NASCAR’s decision to ban the Confederate flag.
“I spoke to him this morning about this, and he said he was not making a judgment one way or the other. The intent of the tweet was to stand up for the men and women of NASCAR and the fans,” McEnany said.
Pressed on why Wallace should apologize, McEnany said: “Well, look, the FBI, as I noted, concluded that this was not a hate crime, and [Trump] believes it goes a long way if Bubba came out and acknowledged that as well.”
Reporters pointed out that Wallace has done that, writing in a June 24 tweet that he was relieved “that the investigation revealed that this wasn’t what we feared it was.”
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