PresidentDonald Trumpmay call Washington, D.C., his home, but he’s not a universally loved figure there.
Although Game 7 of the World Series took place in Houston — home of the losing team, the Astros —36,000 Nationals fansgathered in D.C. to attend a free viewing party at Nationals Park, watching the big game on the stadium’s big screen.
During one of the game’s commercial breaks, a pro-Trump campaign ad played and, as they had when Trump and First LadyMelania Trumpattended Game 5 in the capital three days earlier, someNationals fans booed the presidentandchanted “lock him up”— a twist on a common chant during his rallies, usually referring toHillary Clinton.
“This is huge for D.C. D.C., we needed this. We got some a— in the f— White House right now,” the fan said, as the reporter conducing the interview could be heard saying “oh no.”
The crowd at Nationals Park during Game 7.Alex Brandon/AP/Shutterstock
Unsurprisingly, the ad, which many on social media were quick to point out was airing just hours before the House of Representatives voted in support of impeachment proceedings against Trump, took a stab at his political opponents.
“President Trump is changing Washington,” the ad proclaimed while boasting about theamount of jobsthat have been created during his time in office as well as hisoften-criticized record on immigrationand the recentdeath of Islamic State leaderAbu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
“But the Democrats would rather focus on impeachment and phony investigations, ignoring the real issues,” continued the ad, which included images of House SpeakerNancy Pelosiand former special counselRobert Mueller. “But that’s not stopping Donald Trump. He’s no Mr. Nice Guy, but sometimes it takes a Donald Trump to change Washington.”
Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh toldThe Washington Postthat the decision to buy ad time during the World Series came with a seven-figure price tag.
Speaking generally of their strategy, Murtaugh added that although the election is still a year away, “We are on offense.”
About 23 million people watched Game 7,according toThe Hollywood Reporter, and up to that point the series had attracted an average of 11.6 viewers per game, according toThe Los Angeles Times.
Will Newton/Getty
On Thursday, Democrats formally voted on theirongoing investigation, passing a resolution to formalize the impeachment inquiry.
“Today, we are further down the path of our inquiry,” Speaker Pelosi, 79, told reporters Thursday, according toPolitico, as she called it a “sad day.”
“Nobody comes to Congress to impeach the president.”
So far, the impeachment investigation has reportedly seen closed-door testimony from various government officialscorroborating the broader pictureof Trump and his associates acting improperly toward Ukraine.
This summer, Trump pushed Ukraine’s government to investigate former Vice PresidentJoe Biden, one of his leading challengers for re-election next year. He has denied wrongdoing and called Congress’ investigation a “witch hunt.”
source: people.com
