President Donald Trump called out driver Bubba Wallace on Monday, intimating that a noose found in his garage at Talladega Superspeedway last month was a hoax and questioning NASCAR’s decision to ban the Confederate flag from the sport.
Trump tweeted: “Has @BubbaWallace apologized to all of those great NASCAR drivers & officials who came to his aid, stood by his side, & were willing to sacrifice everything for him, only to find out that the whole thing was just another HOAX? That & Flag decision has caused lowest ratings EVER!”
A noose was found in Wallace’s garage at Talladega on June 21, less than two weeks after he successfully pushed NASCAR to ban the Confederate flag at its venues.
After the race that day was postponed because of weather, Wallace, NASCAR’s only Black full-time driver, was joined by all 39 other drivers and their crews on June 22 in a march down pit road as they pushed his No. 43 to the front of the line in the moments before the race.
An FBI investigation determined that Wallace was not the victim of a hate crime and that the pull rope fashioned like a noose had been on a garage door at the speedway since as early as October, NASCAR announced on June 23.
A day later, Wallace said he was thankful that the noose wasn’t intended for him, but he doesn’t think the ensuing investigation was an overreaction.
