Taylor Walls moves into the political spotlight after an apparent Trump-like gesture

NEW YORK – Rays shortstop Taylor Walls said he was just sharing an “inside joke” with his teammates on Sunday as he plunged into the world of politics and gained viral fame on the Internet.

In Sunday’s win over the Yankees, Walls reached second base on a double and made a Donald Trump-inspired gesture as he looked toward the Rays dugout, pumped his fist and said “fight, fight,” similar to what the former president and current Republican nominee did after he was injured in an assassination attempt during a rally in Pennsylvania on July 13.

A video of Walls’ gesture posted on social media platform X had nearly 15 million views by late Monday afternoon and numerous comments from across the political and sporting spectrum.

Walls said after Monday’s game that it was not a political statement, but that he found Trump’s response to the shooting inspiring, and given the unexpected attention the shooting attracted, he “probably won’t” do it again.

“It was more the symbolism of ‘get knocked down, get back up, keep fighting, keep going’ and kind of just courage (and) determination. That’s more what it was. It wasn’t necessarily politically directed against Trump, …” Walls said. “More the inspirational side of someone who almost had his life taken away and whose first instinct was to stand up and show strength.”

Walls, a 28-year-old Georgia native who attended Florida State, is believed to be the first major league player to publicly express support for Trump in this way. The Cardinals recently held a celebration in the dugout that some observers thought had something to do with Trump, but players said that was not the case.

Walls said he has talked and joked with his teammates about Trump’s reaction to the shooting, but has not developed a plan for how to incorporate it into his on-field gestures.

“It definitely wasn’t something where I was just like, ‘Oh, I can’t wait to do that.’ It definitely wasn’t. It was more of a joke that was being played around with me and the guys in the clubhouse the day before, the two days before (Sunday’s game, which was the first he hit in since the shooting),” said Walls, who has a .160 batting average.

“It was one of those things where we were in the moment. I got on base there. And I saw the guys just laughing and laughing their heads off, so I knew they were expecting it from me, and I was like, ‘OK, now I have to give it to them.’ And that was about it. … It was just excitement really, because I got to second base first and then the guys were kind of cheering me on. So it was just instinctive.”

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He said he was frustrated that the video clip posted from the game broadcast was somewhat misleading, as it showed that he was serious when he laughed afterwards and that some of his teammates did too.

“I had to smile right afterward because it was a joke and they didn’t see that side,” he said. “I think if that side had been shown, maybe people wouldn’t have taken it so out of context.”

Although Walls has been involved in political controversy before, he said he “absolutely” did not expect the Trump gesture to become such a big deal and a national issue.

In March 2022, Walls posted on Twitter that he “couldn’t agree more” with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ strongly worded stance against allowing transgender athletes to participate in girls’ and women’s sports. Walls later said he “did nothing wrong” by expressing his opinion and “didn’t mean to offend in the slightest.”

After seeing some of the initial reactions on Sunday evening, he turned off his phone, but said he was pleased to see some support.

“I’ve been in this situation before; I know what comes with it,” Walls said. “To be honest, it was more of a surprisingly positive experience than the last time this happened. So it was really good to see that people have my back.”

Walls said he had not heard from Trump or his representatives, but “honestly, I think that would be pretty cool.”

Walls declined to say who he would vote for in November, but said, “You can see it the way you see it. I don’t think it’s a secret.”

Team officials declined to comment. Manager Kevin Cash simply said, “I was happy he hit a double.”

Whether a player should do this during a game – much less on the televised stage where he stands on second base at Yankee Stadium – became a topic of conversation.

“I think it just depends on player to player,” veteran starter Zach Eflin said. “I think we live in a world where everyone is allowed to express their opinion, no matter who they are, and I think that’s the beauty of freedom of speech.”

“I can’t control what other people do. You can have your own opinion and your own assumptions, but at the end of the day, we love the guys here (in the clubhouse). Whether it’s that or the people dancing on the field, I feel like I’ve seen pretty much everything here. So I feel like everything is accepted here.”

Reliever Colin Poche had a similar opinion.

“I think everything has its time and place,” he said. “I don’t know if what he did was necessarily a political statement in any way. Obviously it was something Trump did. I don’t know, I think it’s more of a humorous thing, like when someone gets shot and he, I guess, has the nerve to do what he did: put his fist up and yell ‘fight.'”

“Personally, I don’t care so much about making a political statement. I think people have the right to express their views. And hopefully as a sport we can welcome everyone and their views. I think everyone can see it through their own lens.”

Closer Pete Fairbanks simply said: “Sport is the great unifier.”

Poche added that he hopes it doesn’t become too much of a controversy. “Hopefully people will see it as light and fun and not a divisive thing. Look at it with some humor and then next week someone will do something stupid and we’ll move on.”

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