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Can we just deport him? And no I am not talking about a Somalian, but Alexander Ovechkin. He just appeared in a Russian political ad. When asked why he did that he replied, “I’m Russian, I support my country”. But here’s the thing the west and to a lesser extent the US is at war with Russia. Undeclared and without ground troops, but we are contributing financing, seized Russian assets, and have and probably still provide intelligence to the Ukrainian side. I think supporting a foreign government at war with America is perfectly fine grounds to deport someone.
The counter argument and I think a reasonable opinion for letting him stay is that cultural exchange makes peace easier. So there are solid grounds for letting him stay. I probably take the opinion that letting him play hockey in the US is better for US foreign policy than deportation.
From a cultural war perspective I would love Trump to deport him and make the lefties who “support Ukraine” make arguments for why Ovechkin in ICE shackles is a bad thing. Meh “free speech”. I did the AI thing and it sounds like he doesn’t have US citizenship but if he did he would make a perfect test case for denaturalization. Declaring yourself to have loyalties to a foreign government at war with the US seems absolutely perfect for denaturalization.
Also, nice culture war on Trump is a Russian agent by deporting a Russian. And it fits with the meme “we need them for the sports ball team”.
He’s just a perfect test case for deportation since his politics are against the US left instead of their Hamas adjacent friends who a broad swath of the left supports.
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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