If you have watched any games during the MLB postseason and World Series, odds are you’ve seen or heard a ridiculous amount of political ads during commercial breaks — after all, midterm elections are already underway. But one ad in particular has been impossible to ignore during the postseason.
Citizens for Sanity, a dark-money funded nonprofit with ties to Trump’s former White House advisor Stephen Miller, has bombarded baseball fans with a series of jarringly racist ads between innings that paint immigrants as criminals who are trying rob Americans of their way of life and assault children.
It’s straight-up garbage that has no place in the MLB postseason, and fans have been vocal in opposition to MLB, TBS and Fox about the ads. But when finally confronted about the horrible message the ads promote to a global audience, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred had just about the weakest response imaginable.
In an interview with The Los Angeles Times’ Bill Shaikin, Manfred declined to comment about the ads and went on to praise the league’s relationship with Fox. He said:
“Fox is a great partner of ours. I don’t think it’s fair to them to get into private conversations that we may or may not have had.”
Considering that MLB’s playing population is about 32 percent Hispanic, that is not the response you’d like to hear from any respectable commissioner. But it was telling in showing what Manfred prioritizes — money over dignity.
When the ads initially aired, For The Win reached out to Fox Sports but did not receive a response. A spokesperson for Warner Bros. Discovery Sports (formerly Turner Sports) told For The Win that the Citizens for Sanity ads were purchased through pay-TV providers for local time slots and not through TBS — the network would have declined a national ad buy for failing to meet company standards.
As expected, MLB fans were disappointed in Manfred’s response and inaction.
This was how Twitter reacted
Good for @BillShaikin pressing @MLB commissioner Manfred on openly racist (and now pro-Putin) ads that @FOXSports has chosen to make #WorldSeries a platform for. Manfred dodged the question. Can he avoid it through rest of the series? Does players association have an opinion? https://t.co/uuwFk2i3jE
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) October 30, 2022
The ads-
1) illegal immigrants as criminals 2)Pres Biden’s support of Ukraine is coming at the expense of helping Americans and risking WWIII.
“Fox is a great partner of ours. I don’t think it’s fair to them to get into private conversations that we may or may not have had.” https://t.co/GuHusCNQ5O— Mimsy🏴☠️ (@MimsyYamaguchi) October 30, 2022
The worst part of watching baseball playoffs, my usual escape from this sort of horror. Volume goes to mute every time they come on https://t.co/vOD6W0AV7n
— James Generic (@jgeneric) October 30, 2022
Manfred a coward always https://t.co/EkdXQcIfui
— Kenny C (@southparkid4) October 30, 2022
Manfred doesn't care about racism. Why would he? No surprise. Offended? Yes. Tiredsome? Yes. Expect change? No. https://t.co/BhwJBTqeKG pic.twitter.com/FOCXskNuxj
— Eddie Soto Photo 🇵🇷🇳🇮🗽⚾️ (@EddieJSoto) October 30, 2022
Thanks for asking the questions, but what a cop out by Rob Manfred & @MLB to not have any comment on what so many (including the @latimes own @hiltzikm) have called "openly racist" ads. Sadly they have been running on Fox stations throughout the playoffs. #WorldSeries https://t.co/fEC0se24b1 pic.twitter.com/4L8nYMlFz4
— robert.malcolm (@overturnH8) October 30, 2022
Of course. Manfred won’t comment on the outrageous racist ads. What a jerk. https://t.co/kpvPUkOwfo
— Marc C Johnson (@TheJohnsonPost) October 30, 2022
.@mlb profiles in courage https://t.co/Lj4GWS5v8j pic.twitter.com/Hr0j4ZPA2q
— Sarah W(rath 🌈😡) (@toasterposey) October 30, 2022
The answer about the ads is typical Manfred, you just can't expect anything good coming out of him. He only cares about the money, all those initiatives about inclusion are just for looks
— Nerraza (@nerraza) October 30, 2022
Manfred never fails to find new ways to disappoint.
