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Donald Trump's 'tomahawk chop' with Braves fans at World Series hailed as 'best ever'

The 45th POTUS had several reasons to celebrate, including the 40th birthday of his eldest daughter and former White House adviser Ivanka Trump

Former President Donald J Trump joined his fans in the controversial "Tomahawk chop" at Game 4 of the World Series in Atlanta on Saturday night, October 30.

The 45th POTUS had several reasons to celebrate, including the 40th birthday of his eldest daughter and former White House adviser Ivanka Trump. Meanwhile, it's worth noting that the chop, a longtime tradition at Braves games, has faced pushback in the discussion about racial imagery in professional sports. Many Native American advocates have decried the chant as racist, but Braves fans have largely dismissed the criticism, with the Republican Governor of Georgia Brian Kemp leading fans in doing the chant in both Games 3 and 4 of the series.

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The former president and first lady Melania Trump were accompanied by former NFL star Herschel Walker, who is running for a US Senate seat in Georgia. Trump's support has bolstered the former running back's expectations ahead of next year's primary when Republicans hope to unseat incumbent Democratic Sen Raphael Warnock in the general election.

"Looking forward to being at the World Series in Atlanta tonight," Trump said in a statement earlier Saturday. "Thank you to the Commissioner of Baseball Rob Manfred, and Randy Levine of the New York Yankees, for the invite. Melania and I are looking forward to a wonderful evening watching two great teams!”

Speaking to USA Today on Wednesday, Atlanta Braves CEO Terry McGuirk said Trump would not be sitting with the team or MLB officials, and that the Braves will give him his own suite. "He called MLB and wanted to come to the game,'' McGuirk told the paper. "We were very surprised. Of course, we said yes.'' The Braves went on to win 2-0 in Game 3 on Friday, thereby putting them at a 2-1 advantage over the Astros in the best-of-seven series.

Social media was inundated with fans of the former president gushing over his presence at the game. "You can hear the let’s go Brandon chants on the telecast. Omg, this is hilarious," one tweeted. "The honest man and his wife is saying it like it is. In my eyes, they will always be the first family. What a team they are, the Amerian people are so Lucky," another added.

"This is possibly the best chop I have ever seen. One like you’ve never seen before. Just beautiful!" a comment read. "I’d bet my entire life savings that Joy Reid does her next show on this #WorldSeries," another quipped

Last year, the former Republican leader had called for a boycott of baseball in Georgia after MLB elected in April to move its All-Star Game out of Atlanta in response to the state's voting laws reform.

That said, the last baseball game attended by Trump was in 2019 at the Nationals Park in Washington, DC when the Nationals hosted the Astros in Game 5. The former commander in chief attended several sporting events during his tenure, enjoying warm receptions from the crowds at NASCAR's Daytona 500, a number of college football games in Alabama and Louisiana, as well as when he did the coin toss at the 119th annual Army-Navy game. Following his departure from the White House, Trump attended a UFC fight card in July and provided commentary on a boxing match hosted by Triller on September 11.