Via – Greenwich Time

As millions of fans prepared to watch the Washington Nationals obliterate the Houston Astros on Wednesday, a tweet posted by Major League Baseball umpire Rob Drake caught the attention of an ESPN reporter.

“I will be buying an AR-15 tomorrow, because if you impeach MY PRESIDENT this way, YOU WILL HAVE ANOTHER CIVAL WAR!!! #MAGA2020,” the Arizona umpire tweeted late Tuesday, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported.

Drake deleted the tweet so quickly that a screen shot had not surfaced by early Thursday. It had accompanied another tweet that said: “You can’t do an impeachment inquiry from the basement of Capital Hill without even a vote! What is going on in this country?”

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred told ESPN the league was “looking into” the tweet referencing President Donald Trump and the House impeachment inquiry. The umpire has since deactivated his Twitter account.

The tweet was the second major off-the-field scandal to hit MLB during its biggest showcase of the year. On Saturday night, Astros Assistant General Manager Brandon Taubman taunted a group of female reporters about a Houston pitcher accused of domestic violence – an incident Sports Illustrated described as “offensive and frightening.”

Drake, 50, who has been a full-time MLB ump since 2010, is perhaps best known for a 2011 altercation with St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina, who was suspended for five games after bumping him and spraying him with spit. Drake co-founded “Calling For Christ,” an umpire training academy in Arizona, where he lives, according to his official MLB profile.

The MLB and Drake did not immediately return a request for comment.

Drake’s tweet suggesting violence over Trump’s increasing political peril echoed a right-wing talking point that began on the extreme fringes of the political spectrum but has grown increasingly common.

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