Sean Doolittle Won’t Join Nationals When They Visit Donald Trump, White House

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

Washington Nationals closer Sean Doolittle will not join the team when it visits President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, citing the president's rhetoric and policies.

“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. My wife and I stand for inclusion and acceptance, and we’ve done work with refugees, people that come from, you know, the ‘s–thole countries,'” Doolittle told Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post.

Doolittle was referencing Trump's offensive comments on immigrants from countries he found undesirable entering the United States. The Nationals are scheduled to visit Trump less than a week after winning their first World Series in franchise history.

Doolittle is the first player to say he would not attend the ceremony.

Trump and first lady Melania Trump were booed by Nationals fans when they attended Game 5 in Washington. Fans chanted “Lock Him Up!” at the president, a callback to his campaign rhetoric against Hillary Clinton. The Washington D.C. area tends to vote Democrat. Trump is a Republican who has been combative with the opposing party throughout his presidency.

“People say you should go because it’s about respecting the office of the president,” Doolittle said. “And I think over the course of his time in office he’s done a lot of things that maybe don’t respect the office.”

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Doolittle said he respects the decisions of teammates who choose to attend the ceremony. He added he hopes his teammates that do attend afford him the same respect. 

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