The United States Tennis Association asked broadcasters of the U.S. Open to censor any protests or negative reactions to President Donald Trump’s appearance at the men’s singles final today between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. The President, an avowed tennis fan, was loudly booed when he last attended a match at the Open in his first term
Here’s the relevant section from the USTA email to U.S. Open broadcasters :
“With respect to Broadcast Coverage, the President will be shown on the World Feed and the Ashe Court Feed during the opening anthem ceremony. We ask all broadcasters to refrain from showcasing any disruptions or reactions in response to the President’s attendance in any capacity, including ENG [Electronic News Gathering] coverage.”
There is no problem with the USTA making it clear to attendees that such demonstrations will, for example, result in removal from the stadium, but telling broadcasters not to report what, if anything, happens during their broadcasts is censorship, as well as asking the broadcasters to be complicit in a lie. The broadcasters, all of them, should tell the association to bite them.
The USTA will show Trump during the National Anthem, which “Bounce,” the tennis substack that is clearly infected with the Trump Derangement Virus and that first reported the memo, calls the playing of the anthem “one of the noisiest and bombastic portions of Sunday’s events” —nice—and describes the USTA’s request as “further complicity in broadcasting Trump’s desired stagecraft for his first appearance at the U.S. Open in a decade.”
Isn’t everyone sick of this attitude? The President of the United States has always engaged in public appearances that emphasize the importance and significance of the office, as well as embracing POTUS’s traditional role as “a human flag.” This isn’t “Trump’s stagecraft” nor is honoring the U.S. at a sporting event “bombastic” except to anti-American progressives like Ben Rothenberg, the writer of “Bounces.”
Sure, people like Rothenberg are the reason we have so many citizens who so revel in hating the elected President of the United states that they cannot be counted on to be civil when their nation’s leader appears in public. Nevertheless, journalists—and broadcasters of sports events are allegedly reporters—are ethically bound to report what happens no matter who it embarrasses or reveals to be an asshole.
Ethics Alarms 
I forget which comic character I’m quoting when I say “What a maroon!”
The president, surely, is attending this event knowing full well that he may be booed. Good for him.
Presumably, if Biden had made such an appearance that same organization would be asking the media not to cover chants of ‘Let’s go Brandon!’
“I forget which comic character I’m quoting when I say ‘What a maroon!’ “
PWS
It seems a fair request to ask that no attendees demonstrate, protest, or cause any sort of disruption, especially centered on any other attendee rather than the action on the court. A request to media, especially visual media, to limit coverage might help further their aim for civility by making potential protesters aware that their behavior wouldn’t get them air time attention.
good point. Almost every sport has a “don’t televise someone who runs on to the field “ rule.
-Jut
Let’s not forget the whole “Let’s go Brandon” was a product of the left attempting to do the same exact thing for Biden.
Is there video with sound of the crowd’s reaction to Trump and his family’s appearance?
There are videos, but they don’t seem to be terribly revealing as to whether the reception is positive or negative.
To me, that says that the reception was not him being roundly booed. That would have led the MSM news all around.