Mookie Betts says he won’t attend Red Sox visit to White House

Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts says he will not attend the team’s visit to the White House planned for later this spring.

After accepting the American League’s Most Valuable Player award at a ceremony Saturday night, Betts told the Boston Globe that he “decided not to” attend, but did not say why. 

“I won’t be going there,” he said.

{mosads}The team originally planned to visit the White House Feb. 15 to celebrate their World Series win, but postponed the visit due to the government shutdown. 

“You’ve got 800,000 federal workers who are not working right now,” team president Sam Kennedy said last week, according to MassLive. “Just not sure it’s appropriate to be celebrating in such a public way while there’s people who are struggling right now. So that’s been the internal conversation.”

The team will now visit the White House in May during their road trip to play the Baltimore Orioles.

At least one other player said he will not join the White House visit, with another saying it was unlikely and a number of others still undecided. At least seven Red Sox players have said they will attend, according to the Globe.

President Trump has had a fraught relationship with sports teams amid the decades-long tradition of championship visits to the White House.

Last year, the president disinvited the Philadelphia Eagles from visiting the White House after it appeared that only a few players planned to attend.