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Yuck. That would possibly be one of the worst things Trump could do for his presidency.
Blatant interference in sports will not be tolerated well. Americans have their bread and circuses. Don't fuck with the circuses. Especially after his war with Iran just made the bread so damn expensive.
Ovechkin is retiring anyways and has said he plans to move back to Russia. Just wait ~6 months and he will be gone.
I came across the article on the sport website of my local team whose owner is extremely liberal and called Ovechkin an awful human being. The bread and circus of sports would still go on and Capitals being in DC you likely have the bulk of the people agreeing Ovechkin is an awful human being.
You can avoid the free speech debate by citing violation of sanctions. Which he did do.
You are likely right it’s a bad idea. But the GOP has newspaper people now. Larry Ellison owns CNN now. And most Americans when they become aware of what he supports probably will agree he’s an awful person.
He may only have 6 months left in his career but it would tarnish his legacy. Getting deported for supporting mass murderer isn’t the last line you want on your Wikipedia page.
But a big reason to do it is to set a precedent for revoking Visas on these grounds and he’s a great case because you probably have 95% support that Russias war is awful and a humanitarian disaster.
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