Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora will not visit the White House this week to celebrate the team’s 2018 World Series win, citing the Trump administration’s handling of hurricane relief in Puerto Rico, according to Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Día.
Cora, who was born in the Puerto Rican city of Caguas, told the publication he would not join the team Thursday. Several players, including Mookie Betts, David Price and Rafael Devers, have already said they will not attend.
{mosads}”Although the government of the United States has helped, there is still a long way to go, that is OUR reality,” Cora said in a statement translated by CBS Sports. “I have continually used my voice so that we Puerto Ricans are not forgotten and my absence is not different. Therefore, at this moment, I do not feel comfortable celebrating in the White House.”
Cora said last November in the wake of the team’s victory that he had not yet decided whether he would attend. Last September, he criticized President Trump’s tweets falsely claiming no more than 18 people died in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in 2017. “I hate that people make it a political issue,” Cora said. “This is about human beings.”
In April, the University of Virginia men’s basketball team declined an invitation to celebrate their NCAA tournament victory at the White House, citing scheduling conflicts. The North Carolina Tar Heels cited similar scheduling issues after winning the 2017 tournament.