Oh my.
No doubt this was done in earnest by the team, as a show of genuine opposition to her. But a little part of me wants to believe it’s actually eight-dimensional chess on Loeffler’s part. I’m imagining her calling a huddle in the locker room before the game, like, “Listen, would y’all mind terribly wearing some ‘Vote Warnock’ shirts for me tonight? As a favor. I have my reasons.” I thought she was a dead duck in the special election for the Senate seat she now occupies after the DOJ briefly investigated her for possible COVID-related insider trading this past spring. But she was cleared, and she’s been more competitive in the race than one might expect. Between her vast fortune, the support of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, and the perception that she’s more moderate than populist challenger Doug Collins, Loeffler should do fine with right-leaning swing voters like suburbanites. Her problem is that Collins could beat her anyway by consolidating the righty populist vote. So Loeffler’s been at pains to make inroads with that group, sticking close to Trump and grasping for ways to show voters that she’s a populist at heart too, as far-fetched as that may seem. Maybe she’s found a way. A month ago, as minority owner of the Atlanta Dream, she wrote to the commissioner of the WNBA to complain about the league’s plan to promote Black Lives Matter this season. “I adamantly oppose the Black Lives Matter political movement, which has advocated for the defunding of police, called for the removal of Jesus from churches and the disruption of the nuclear family structure, harbored anti-Semitic views, and promoted violence and destruction across the country,” said Loeffler at the time. “I believe it is totally misaligned with the values and goals of the WNBA and the Atlanta Dream, where we support tolerance and inclusion.” Her suggestion: Why not put the American flag on players’ uniforms instead? That would have been an unsubtle pander even for Trump but she doesn’t have a ton of time before Election Day to convince Collins’s voters that she’s One Of Us. Fortunately for her, players on the Dream and across the league were outraged by her request. “I can’t believe I ever stepped foot in Kelly’s house and shared a meal with her. It’s actually really hurtful to see her true colors,” said one former Dream player. The team’s current players pushed back on her as well: We said what we said. #SayHerName pic.twitter.com/xpuFiLmO9r Monique Billings (@moniquebillings) July 10, 2020 The WNBA players’ union went so far as to suggest that she should be forced to sell her interest in the team: E-N-O-U-G-H! O-U-T!https://t.co/XgIS2vRb2X — WNBPA (@TheWNBPA) July 7, 2020 We’re not going to force her to sell, the commissioner said, but the players’ instinct to purge her from the league handed Loeffler a new gift-wrapped talking point about being threatened by “cancel culture.
