Leftists, media blast Washington Nationals' Kurt Suzuki for wearing MAGA hat during White House visit

Leftists on social media weren't kind to Washington Nationals catcher Kurt Suzuki, who wore a "Make America Great Again" hat for a White House visit Monday after the team won the 2019 World Series.

And as we've come to know, the red MAGA hat — the symbol of President Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign — is triggering for some on the left, who've been caught freaking out over the hats, even snatching them away, knocking them off heads, and even stealing them while video records the whole thing. Last week, a man was arrested after allegedly spitting on a MAGA hat wearer.

What are they saying about Suzuki?

Fortunately, things haven't gotten that bad for Suzuki — but the claws have come out nonetheless.

Wajahat Ali — a contributing op-ed writer for the New York Times — tweeted the following about the Nats' MAGA hat-wearing catcher after Trump briefly hugged him: "They will never love you, Kurt Suzuki. They will never love you. Enjoy the hug and the delusion. Whatever makes you feel great."

Journalist Soledad O'Brien had a one-word tweet for Suzuki's fashion choice: "Pathetic."

A number of Twitter users ripped the catcher for supporting racism and even called Suzuki racist:

• "Whoever had @kurtsuzuki as being the most racist @Nationals player, ding ding ding you are a winner."
• "Is it possible to be a racist toward your own race? Dunno lets ask Kurt Suzuki."
• "Just some racist baseball player. @kurtsuzuki what a disgrace."
• "Lmao at Kurt Suzuki making his account private, I'm sure that has nothing to do with outing himself as a racist today." (Indeed Suzuki's Twitter page is now protected.)

Norman Ornstein — a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute — called Suzuki's actions "very sad."

"I love Kurt Suzuki as a player," Ornstein added. "But he wore a MAGA hat to the White House, so I will not cheer him. Not quite as bad for Ryan Zimmerman, but his praise for Trump is hard to take."

What else did Suzuki say?

"Everybody makes everything political," Suzuki said in a text to USA Today, according to the Washington Times. "It was about our team winning the World Series." The paper also said Suzuki described the moment as "amazing" and that he was "just trying to have some fun."

Anything else?

First baseman Ryan Zimmerman gave Trump a Nationals jersey and told him "thank you for keeping everyone here safe in our country and continuing to make America the greatest country to live in the world" — and he got ripped on Twitter as well.

Writer Kurt Bardella tweeted, "Ryan Zimmerman can go f*** off as far as I'm concerned!" — and others were equally unkind:

• "Hey Ryan, Remember when a Trump supporter wanted to stop the caravan and kill as many Mexicans as he could so he took an assault rifle into Walmart and started shooting???"
• "I've lost all respect for Ryan Zimmerman for praising Donald Trump."
• "Someone please tell Ryan Zimmerman that White extremist-related murders have spiked 35% under Trump."
• "Ryan Zimmerman was beloved by lots of folks. Not so much any more."