Liberal and left-wing media outlets are now slandering Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and accusing him of racial dog-whistling after he called basketball players “freaks of nature” and “incredible athletes” while comparing them to players in other sports.
The Governor was giving an interview this week when the topic turned to sports. When asked about his love of baseball, DeSantis praised it as a “meritocratic” game where people of different sizes and athletic abilities can perform well at various positions based on skill alone.
“I think that there’s kind of a place for everybody in a baseball team if you’re willing to work hard, if you’re willing to practice… I kind of thought it was always a very democratic game, a very meritocratic game,”
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He then contrasted this with basketball, arguing that, while requiring skill, it also requires superb physical attributes at the highest levels to remain competitive. The most apparent example of this is well above average height but also a level of cardio fitness that baseball players, who stand still for large portions of the game, don’t always need
“Whereas I kind of viewed basketball as like ‘these guys are just freaks of nature.’ They’re just incredible athletes. In baseball, you know, you have some guys that might not necessarily be the best athletes, but maybe they’ve got you know that slider that nobody can hit, or they have the skills that allow them to compete at the highest level.”
Almost immediately, left-wing outlets twisted DeSantis’s lighthearted comparison of the sports, labeling it “racist.”
A liberal writer detailed his warped interpretation in a USA Today article.
“DeSantis was essentially talking about two leagues, and how the mostly Black one, the NBA, is full of freaky athletes with fast-twitch muscles and apparently not as democratic or meritocratic or whatever-cratic as baseball players. Then, according to DeSantis, there’s baseball, or the MLB, the mostly white sport, full of OK athletes but gosh darn, do they work hard, and form democracies and meritocratic-ocracies-republics. They’re not freaks at all. They’re real Americans.”
This reading of DeSantis’s comments is quite obviously baseless, and the liberal commentators fail to offer any actual evidence that DeSantis had any racist intent or implications. The best the USA Today writer can do is make the self-evident note that there are many athletic baseball players and many intelligent and hard-working basketball players (neither of which contradicts the Governor’s general point about the nature of the two games, as one user on Twitter pointed out.)
Great basketball players would NOT be great without also being very tall, whether or not they also have talent. This is not true in football or baseball. @RonDeSantis is correct, this is the truth, and is not racist.https://t.co/ROVB0FyLaA
— Greg J. Marchand MD (@MarchandSurgery) June 23, 2023
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Regardless, the USA Today writer admits that he assumes the Governor’s guilt in this case, saying, “DeSantis doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt here,” based on several other twisted stories about race aimed at the Governor in the past.
The article isn’t alone, with multiple left-wing Twitter users immediately assuming the same.
Many have correctly called out the way DeSantis talks about Black people. Aside from that – the notion that baseball is more cerebral/skill-based/'meritocratic' than basketball is just goofy! Try adjusting help defense on Steph Curry in real time! https://t.co/YyAWicF7Nm
— Rajan Narang (@rdnarang) June 22, 2023
REALLY FLORIDA??? You really want to keep this wanker?
Ron DeSantis Sparks Outrage, Dismisses Basketball Players As ‘Freaks of Nature'https://t.co/HRwJH4VciH
— Annie van Leur (@AnnevanLeur) June 22, 2023
The fact that there are many fantastic non-white baseball players and white basketball players is also not addressed.
One observer on Twitter pointed out that DeSantis was not denigrating basketball in any way but complimenting the talent and uniqueness of its top athletes, making the slanderous interpretations even more bizarre.
This is the weakest gotcha I've ever seen.
He's complimentary of both skill sets, and it's also true.
— Based Bayesian (@Aliquickk) June 21, 2023
Another user pointed out that height alone would validate DeSantis’s admiring use of the term “freaks” when referring to basketball players.
Newsflash: by definition if you are over 6'2" (which btw doesn't even *qualify* you on height terms for the NBA), you are by definition a freak of nature. Really, really tall people are vanishing rare, which is why they can make beaucoup bucks. https://t.co/bZ6y0PCYqk
— Jeff Blehar is *BOX OFFICE POISON* (@EsotericCD) June 23, 2023
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