The Republican National Committee on Monday unveiled a television ad that will run during the All-Star Game and slams Major League Baseball for moving the showcase from Atlanta to Denver over Georgia’s elections overhaul.
The 30-second spot accuses the league of bowing to misleading liberal criticism to the detriment of Atlanta and Black business owners. It estimates Georgia’s largest city lost $100 million in revenue from the move.
“This was supposed to be Atlanta’s night, but we were robbed,” the Rev. Melvin Everson, a former Republican state lawmaker, says in his narration. “Democrats stole our All-Star Game to push their divisive political agenda.”
The seven-figure ad buy will run on Fox during Tuesday’s telecast and air on CNN, MSNBC and Fox Atlanta.
The MLB moved the midseason game amid an uproar over Georgia’s decision to tighten up absentee voting and empower state officials over local elections offices, among other changes.
Democrats called it a new form of “Jim Crow” that would harm minorities after the GOP suffered pivotal losses in the state in 2020. Large Atlanta corporations, under outside pressure, also slammed the law ahead of the MLB’s move.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said the MLB succumbed to “cancel culture” and was misled by activists, pointing to expanded weekend voting that’s more generous than many other states and the popularity of voter-identification laws.
“Politicians and corporations lied, while Black communities got hurt the most. Even though a majority of Black voters support laws like voter ID,” the reverend says in the ad. “To Democrats, it’s just a game. But we’re the ones who got played.”
