There’s a big brouhaha that’s brewing in the wake of the visit of the Chicago Cubs to see President Donald Trump on Wednesday, June 28. President Trump posed with a No. 45 jersey that the Chicago Cubs baseball team presented Mr. Trump with in the Oval Office of the White House. But controversy began when at least one particular photo from the event went viral, along with commentary claiming that Cubs player Albert Almora Jr. stuck his middle finger out down low near his pocket in an attempt to flip the bird at President Trump.
Albert is a center fielder for the Chicago Cubs, and he was photographed warming up for an MLB game between the Chicago Cubs and the Washington Nationals on Tuesday, June 27, 2017, in D.C. However, it was one particular photo, as seen in the below video from the Chicago Sun-Times, that other publications and folks on social media have used to claim that Almora was sticking his middle finger out at President Trump.
President Trump got his personalized baseball jersey during the event designed to honor the 2016 World Series Champion Chicago Cubs. But Albert became the center of controversy when a headline from the Daily Mail blared, “Strikeout! Smirking Chicago Cubs star flips his middle finger while posing with Trump in the Oval Office during World Series champions’ trip to the White House.”
Closer inspection of the photo in question shows that instead of just his middle finger, Albert’s index finger sticks out of his pocket too, with Almora resting the two fingers side by side. As reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, the description of the photo in question reads, “Kris Brant stands beside President Donald Trump at the White House.” The photo’s vantage point shows Brant, and also a view of Almora, with a close-up view showing two fingers sticking out of Albert’s pocket of his blue jeans.
The view is questionable, because Almora’s index finger rests behind his middle finger, so the gesture is subtle. However, Albert has denied giving President Trump the middle finger, reports the Sun-Times. Albert was informed about the middle finger controversy when Almora Jr. said the Chicago Sun-Times published the photo to Twitter, and the Daily Mail ran with the middle finger theory.
“I would never do that to the president of the United States. We laugh about it now, but there’s definitely two fingers out there. There’s not one.”
The Cubs, who defeated the Cleveland Indians during a heated World Series battle last year, ended a 108-year losing streak. Former President Barack Obama honored the Cubs, and now it was their turn to take to the White House to meet President Trump.
[Featured Image by Mark Wilson/Getty Images]