Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Trump Assails Only Black NASCAR Driver

Ken Bredemeier

   WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump assailed the only full-time
   African American NASCAR race car driver on Monday and sharply
   criticized the racing organization for its recent racetrack ban on the
   display of the Confederate flag.

   Trump pointedly asked whether Black driver Bubba Wallace has apologized
   for the support NASCAR rendered him after a noose was recently
   discovered in an Alabama racetrack garage he was occupying. NASCAR and
   investigators later determined the rope was being used as a door pull
   and had been in the garage months before Wallace occupied the space.

   Trump, on Twitter, wondered whether Wallace has "apologized to all of
   those great NASCAR drivers & officials who came to his aid, stood by
   his side, & were willing to sacrifice everything for him, only to find
   out that the whole thing was just another HOAX?"

     Has [1]@BubbaWallace apologized to all of those great NASCAR drivers
     & officials who came to his aid, stood by his side, & were willing
     to sacrifice everything for him, only to find out that the whole
     thing was just another HOAX? That & Flag decision has caused lowest
     ratings EVER!
     -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) [2]July 6, 2020

   Trump said the ensuing uproar over the rope and NASCAR's "Flag decision
   has caused lowest (television) ratings EVER!"

   NASCAR recently had announced that the display of Confederate flag,
   which celebrates the 11 Southern states that seceded from the United
   States in the 1860s in support of slavery, "will be prohibited from
   all" its events and properties.

   After Trump's tweet, White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany told Fox
   News, "The president is merely pointing out that we've got to let facts
   come out before we rush to judgment. There was no hate crime committed
   against Bubba Wallace."

   Trump's Monday tweet was his latest racially tinged statement four
   months ahead of his November national re-election contest, which polls
   show him trailing former Democratic Vice President Joe Biden. The
   polling shows Black voters overwhelmingly support Biden.

   Trump has previously said he would veto defense spending legislation
   calling for changing the names of military bases named after
   Confederate military generals and said that the phrase "Black Live
   Matter" is a "symbol of hate."

   After the rope was discovered at the garage Wallace was assigned at the
   Talladega Superspeedway track, NASCAR officials quickly informed law
   enforcement officials about the possible hate crime.

   Nooses have a long malign history in the U.S., in most, but not all
   cases, used by racist whites in lynchings to hang Black people from
   trees, particularly in the Southern states that fought in the Civil
   War. In all, 4,700 such killings occurred in the U.S. between 1882 and
   1968, with other minorities and some whites also targeted in states
   beyond the Confederacy.

   Federal Bureau of Investigation agents within a day of being informed
   of the noose-like rope found in Wallace's garage determined that it had
   been there since last October, months before Wallace was assigned the
   garage.

   NASCAR president Steve Phelps said "the noose was real" and "our
   initial reaction was to protect our driver."

   "We're living in a highly charged and emotional time," Phelps said.
   "What we saw was a symbol of hate, and was only present in one area of
   the garage -- that of the 43 car of Bubba Wallace.

   "In hindsight," he added, "we should have -- I should have -- used the
   word 'alleged' in our statement. ... As you can see from the photo, the
   noose was real, as was our concern for Bubba. With similar emotion,
   others across our industry and our media stood up to defend the NASCAR
   family -- our NASCAR family -- because they are part of the NASCAR
   family too. We were proud to see so many stand up for what's right."

   Wallace, NASCAR's only Black full-time driver, told the ESPN sports
   television network that he was thankful that the noose wasn't intended
   for him. But he said he did not think the ensuing investigation was an
   overreaction.

   Phelps said NASCAR conducted a sweep of every garage area at all 29
   tracks at which it races, a total of 1,684 garage stalls.

   "We found only 11 total that had a pull-down rope tied in a knot, and
   only one noose -- the one discovered ... in Bubba Wallace's garage,"
   Phelps said.

   He said that cameras will be added to garages to capture any
   ill-intended actions.

   "We need to keep Bubba safe. We need to keep a member of our family
   safe," Phelps said.

References

   1. https://twitter.com/BubbaWallace?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   2. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1280117571874951170?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw