{"id":21666,"date":"2019-11-02T21:59:31","date_gmt":"2019-11-02T21:59:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/2019\/11\/02\/when-nationals-visit-the-white-house-sports-and-politics-will-intersect-once-again\/"},"modified":"2019-11-02T21:59:31","modified_gmt":"2019-11-02T21:59:31","slug":"when-nationals-visit-the-white-house-sports-and-politics-will-intersect-once-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/when-nationals-visit-the-white-house-sports-and-politics-will-intersect-once-again\/","title":{"rendered":"When Nationals Visit The White House, Sports And Politics Will Intersect Once Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Aubri Juhasz<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n Fans gather in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 2, 2019 as the Washington Nationals hold a parade to celebrate their World Series victory over the Houston Astros.<\/p>\n

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Stefani Reynolds\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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Stefani Reynolds\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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Thousands of baseball fans sporting red caps and sweatshirts, emblazoned with the Washington Nationals’ curvy W, lined Constitution Avenue in Washington on Saturday to celebrate the team’s historic World Series victory. <\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the Nationals defeated the Houston Astros in Game 7 of the series with a 6-2 comeback, clinching the city’s first baseball championship in 95 years. <\/p>\n

Next on the team’s schedule \u2014 a visit with President Trump. <\/p>\n

The Nationals are scheduled to meet Trump on Monday, continuing a time-honored tradition of championship teams traveling to the White House for a meeting with the president. But in a city where partisan politics has long been the dominant sport, Monday’s visit has itself taken a political turn. <\/p>\n

On Friday, Nationals pitcher Sean Doolittle publicly confirmed that he will skip the event<\/a>. Doolittle has been vocal about his opposition to many of the administration’s policies. <\/p>\n

“There’s a lot of things, policies that I disagree with, but at the end of the day, it has more to do with the divisive rhetoric and the enabling of conspiracy theories and widening the divide in this country,” Doolittle told The Washington Post<\/em><\/a>. “At the end of the day, as much as I wanted to be there with my teammates and share that experience with my teammates, I can’t do it.”<\/p>\n