It is said that President Donald Trump attends this year Daytona 500 On February 16. When he pops up, he will be there to view a driver with whom he has a spotty history.
Bubba Wallace, who drives McDonald car For the Nascar team of Michael Jordan 23xi Racing, a public feud with Trump in 2020.
In July 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 Pandemie and the aftermath of the George Floyd riots, Wallace made several messages on X, then known as Twitter, where Trump was convicted of promoting hatred.
Trump himself attacked Wallace on social media about the driver in which was called for a ban on connected flags on races and claimed that an investigation into a noose in his garage was a “hoax”. An FBI investigation showed that the Strop was in the Garage Kraam since October 2019 and had no crime.
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Bubba Wallace, #43, is wearing a shirt “I Can’t Breathe, Black Lives Matter” for a Nascar Cup series Auto Race on Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, June 7, 2020 in Hampton, Georgia. (AP Photo/Bynn Anderson)
Later that year, Wallace claimed that he was told that he “brought politics to Nascar”, in response to his conviction of Trump. In 2024, however, Wallace did not make any political posts to talk about. Wallace earlier Fox News Digital told Why.
“Investing my time in that seems like a waste of time,” Wallace said at the time. “I was certainly more vocal than because our sport urgently needed change.”
Now that Trump may be attending the Daytona 500, Wallace feels just as indifferent as he did during the elections of the past year. On the Daytona 500 Media Day on Wednesday, Wallace said that he “didn’t care” if Trump appeared or not.
“We are here to race. Not for the show,” Wallace added.
The reaction is in line with Wallace’s recent approach to politics. Unlike in 2020, he no longer makes political social media messages. His feed on X is now only a compound mix of racing photos, promotional costs and photos of family.
Bubba Wallace, on the right, a fight with Kyle Larson after the two crashed during a Nascar Cup series Auto Race on Sunday, October 16, 2022 in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
One of the biggest reasons why Wallace left that habit from 2020 is because of cultural shifts in social media at the time. Wallace said there is overwhelming “negativity” on the platforms he would use to get messages about his beliefs.
“Social media is nowadays just a way for people to hide behind a screen and give their opinion about things they don’t really know,” Wallace told Fox News Digital earlier.
“It’s just too much negativity that it will take years and years and years to get rid of, and we don’t have time for that,” said Wallace about the current culture of social media. “Now, being a father and trying to be the best I can be here for my racing team and my team here, that is where I invest my energy, so that’s all you can really ask for.”
For Wallace, the impact of becoming a father has been a transforming experience for him in such a short time. Since his son was born, Wallace has two top 10 Finishes in the three races in which he participated. He also looks at life through a lens that he never looked through before.
“You have your child at home and a full family to take care of now, so it’s crazy to go through all of that,” said Wallace.
In the meantime, when Trump pops up, this will be two major sporting events for the president within a week.
Last Sunday Trump became the first sitting president in the history of the US who attended a super bowl when he traveled to the Superdome in New Orleans to see how the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Chiefs of Kansas City in Super Bowl Lix.
Trump previously served as a big marshal for the 2020 Daytona 500 And gave the command for drivers to start their engines. He also took a paraderne round around 2 1/2-Mijl Speedway in his armored limousine, causing the field of 40 cars to led for the green flag. The presidential motorcycle present remained on the apron in the corners instead of taking the bends with a high bank.
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President Donald Trump, accompanied by Ivanka Trump, speaks before signing the presidential memorandum of the National Security to launch the “Women’s Global Development and Prosperity” initiative. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Thousands of cheering and a band played patriotic music when Air Force One flew over the famous song, a viaduct that was shown on large screens at the same time. The presence of Trump stimulated fans and caused enormous headaches because of logistics issues on admission points.
Trump, with first Lady Melania Trump on his side, addressed the crowd before the race and called the Daytona 500 “a legendary representation of roaring engines, rising spirits and the American skills, speed and power we have already heard about years. “
A notification from the Federal Aviation Administration Post Monday indicated that Trump was expected to attend the race, but Nascar said on Wednesday that it had not received a confirmation.
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