After the Washington Nationals visited the White House on Monday, multiple media figures shared a “deceptively trimmed” video to social media that purported to show star pitcher Stephen Strasburg snubbing a handshake from President Donald Trump.
Included among them were Rudy Gersten, a sports blogger whose work has been featured at The Washington Post, and David Blaustein, a former ABC News Radio entertainment correspondent and current ABC News Now contributor.
Look at their tweets below:
Strasburg left Trump hanging. ? pic.twitter.com/LFNQTpCs89
— Rudy Gersten (@DCBarno) November 4, 2019
I took the Strasburg/Trump video from @DCBarno and added play-by-play pic.twitter.com/LFXGcSRfQA
— David Blaustein (@blaustein) November 4, 2019
Strasburg personally responded to Gersten’s tweet with two words mashed together: #FakeNews.
And he offered this response by doing something he’d not done since April of 2018: Tweeting.
Look:
#FakeNews https://t.co/ovDuHyRUTb
— Stephen Strasburg (@stras37) November 4, 2019
The full, unedited clip shows Strasburg immediately turning back to Trump and shaking his hand after first briefly hugging his teammates.
Watch:
(Source: David Rutz of the Washington Free Beacon)
In response to being called out, Gersten copped an attitude and began spouting Hillary Clinton-esque rhetoric about a vast right-wing conspiracy perpetrated by right-wing media organizations.
“Several news outlets including @RedState & @gatewaypundit tonight posted defamatory articles about me,” he wrote in a series of tweets. “I am neither a member of the media nor have I deleted my post of Stephen Strasburg bypassing President Trump’s outstretched hand. I am a private citizen and long-time Nats fan.”
“What a load of bulls–t. This is what I’m dealing with folks. I edited nothing. Stras did in fact leave him hanging, it was accidental but funny. I also tweeted them shaking hands and acknowledged immediately in the replies they shook. A total of 7 minutes between my tweets. JFC.”
USA Today, a media outlet certainly not part of the right-wing, disagrees.
“The video in the viral tweet cut off shortly before Strasburg returned to share handshakes with President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump. … The video was deceptively trimmed,” the outlet reported in a fact-check.
Gersten was correct about him tweeting another video — one of Strasburg shaking the president’s hand — only minutes after his first post.
Look at both this tweet and his rebuttals below:
Crowd to Strasburg: “4 more years!”
Rizzo: “should we give him 4 years more?”
Davey: “I would” pic.twitter.com/MUdruJY0VA
— Rudy Gersten (@DCBarno) November 4, 2019
Several news outlets including @RedState & @gatewaypundit tonight posted defamatory articles about me. I am neither a member of the media nor have I deleted my post of Stephen Strasburg bypassing President Trump’s outstretched hand. I am a private citizen and long-time Nats fan.
— Rudy Gersten (@DCBarno) November 5, 2019
What a load of bullshit. This is what I’m dealing with folks. I edited nothing. Stras did in fact leave him hanging, it was accidental but funny. I also tweeted them shaking hands and acknowledged immediately in the replies they shook. A total of 7 minutes between my tweets. JFC. https://t.co/Ct87yAmWDY
— Rudy Gersten (@DCBarno) November 5, 2019
However, fake news is still fake news, and what he originally shared was fake news. Why is that such a bad thing? Because unintelligent, low-information people lack the intellectual capability to differentiate fake news from real news.
Case in point (*Language warning):
Exactly!!! Fkc’em. https://t.co/zttl57HUnL
— MichaelRapaport (@MichaelRapaport) November 4, 2019
Double MVP!!!! Kudos, Strasburg! https://t.co/jHu50uTwIP
— Morgan J. Freeman (@mjfree) November 4, 2019
Stupid is as stupid does.
Gersten’s refusal to just keep it real hasn’t played well on Twitter.
Look:
Seems like this might be the best course of action, dude. pic.twitter.com/9E2zMfY9eX
— Emo goose (@Elsaberoso) November 5, 2019
Stras called you out. Walk away, quietly.
— Thrust Johnson (@largo2033) November 5, 2019
I am not a Trump supporter and I dislike this shit. Why even post an edited clip like that? pic.twitter.com/IBUYgVU9Zc
— Kris Martin (@KrisPaulMartin) November 5, 2019
You got called out by Strasburg himself. Nice try haha
— Michael Cave (@MichaelCave15) November 5, 2019
No you painted a player in a bad light to “get Trump”. And the player called you out for maligning him. Own that and try to do better next time.
— BeStrong_BeFree (@BeStrong_BeFree) November 5, 2019
Nothing defamatory about calling you out for being the liar you are. You lied, flat out.
— TLD1965 (@TLD19651) November 5, 2019
He clearly shakes his hand in another video. You intended to twist the narrative, plain and simple.
— ❤??????BestBiotech™ (@BestBiotech123) November 5, 2019
Like Harriette Winslow once said to Carl Winslow is a 1991 episode of the classic TV series “Family Matters,” “When you make a mistake, fess up to it. Trying to cover it up only makes things worse.”
So what really happened during the Nationals’ visit with the president? The team beamed with MAGA pride.
First, catcher Kurt Suzuki donned a “Make America Great Again” hat while speaking on the White House balcony.
Watch:
(Source: CBS News)
Second, first baseman Ryan Zimmerman thanked the president for a job well done.
“Mr. President, me and my teammates, first of all, would like to thank you for having us here,” he said. “This is an incredible honor that I think all of us will never forget. And we’d also like to thank you for keeping everyone here safe in our country. And continuing to make America the greatest country to live in the world.”
Zimmerman then presented Trump with a personalized jersey.
Watch:
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