Umpire Rob Drake, Who Threatened To Buy An Assault Rifle For Civil War If Trump Is Impeached, Apologizes

Major League Baseball umpire Rob Drake apologized for tweeting that he has been planning to purchase an assault rifle and prepare for civil war if Donald Trump is impeached, ESPN reports.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, this week Drake composed two tweets about Donald Trump’s possible impeachment. In one, he lamented the fact that the House of Representatives has been conducting the inquiry without ever having actually voting to authorize that move.

However, it was a different tweet that got the attention of the media, as well as his bosses at Major League Baseball.

“I will be buying an AR-15 tomorrow because if you impeach MY PRESIDENT this way, YOU WILL HAVE ANOTHER CIVAL WAR!!! #MAGA2020,” he tweeted, misspelling “civil.”

Drake deleted both tweets and, indeed, even de-activated his Twitter account. However, social media tweets are never truly gone as long as someone is around to take screenshots of them, and that is exactly what happened in this case. Once the existence of the tweet was made public, Drake started hearing from his superiors.

Drake’s union, the Major League Baseball Umpires Association, said in a statement that Drake’s tweets do “not represent the view of the MLBUA or reflect those of the umpires we represent.” The statement went on to describe Drake as a “passionate individual” who may have chosen his words poorly in expressing himself.

Similarly, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said that the League is “investigating” the tweet, but declined to provide further information.

Meanwhile, Drake apologized via a statement released on Thursday.

“Once I read what I had tweeted I realized the violence in those words and have since deleted it. I know that I cannot unsay the words, but please accept my sincerest apologies,” he wrote.

In addition, he noted that some readers of his tweet — particularly those who have been personally victimized by gun violence, may have felt less safe after reading the tweet — and he apologized for seemingly making light of the issue of gun violence. Further, he apologized for the controversy his tweet brought to fellow umpires, to Major League Baseball, and to his family.

Whether or not his apology will be the end of the matter is unclear. As of this writing, the Commissioner’s Office has not addressed whether or not the investigation into Drake will be dropped or will continue.

Drake’s Twitter history, archived via screenshots, shows that he admires Donald Trump and has little use for the left. For example, in August of this year, another Twitter user asked Trump supporters to name ways in which Trump is a better president than Barack Obama. Drake responded, “being born in the United States.” Similarly, in a 2018 tweet, he called Hillary Clinton a “F*cking liar” and demanded to know what really happened at “benghazzi.”