Rays SS Taylor Walls says the gesture was not intended as support for Trump and he probably won’t do it again

TORONTO (AP) — Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Taylor Walls said Tuesday that his Donald Trump-inspired cheer after a hit on Sunday was not intended as an endorsement of the Republican presidential candidate, adding that he probably won’t do it again.

Walls clenched his fist and shouted “Fight! Fight! Fight!” after hitting a double against the New York Yankees on Sunday, mimicking Trump’s reaction when he was hit in the ear with a bullet at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on July 13.

“I think it’s pretty inspiring when a person’s life can be taken in the blink of an eye,” Walls said before the Rays’ game against the Toronto Blue Jays. “In the heat of the moment, they don’t really know what’s going on.”

“To immediately step up and show strength says a lot to me,” Walls added. “Anyone in that situation or event is strong when it happens. To me, that’s kind of a character trait and I feel like I’ve experienced those challenges in baseball as well, but on a much more repressed level.”

The fifth-inning double against right-hander Marcus Stroman was Walls’ first hit since being shot. This month, he has five hits in 33 at-bats, including four singles.

However, Walls said it was unlikely he would make the gesture again.

“It was more of a joke, the kind of thing we do with the guys in the locker room,” he said. “Joke might not be the right word. It was just something we did together that we thought was kind of funny and thought was OK. I don’t think it goes much further than that. I can’t imagine doing it again.”

Walls declined to say who he would vote for in November, citing President Joe Biden’s recent decision not to run for re-election.

The four-year veteran from Georgia said the values ​​he grew up with are important to him and usually influence his political decisions.

“You can read between the lines of how I conduct myself, how I was raised, how me and my family work together, how we approach things and do things,” Walls said. “That’s basically what I base my voice and my opinion on.”

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