TODD: I don’t know if you’re following the situation with the young woman named Naomi Osaka, but she’s decided to not participate in the French Open, and so she’s sort of an athlete that sees her work on the court to speak enough, right? She doesn’t apparently go out and thrust her opinion on things societal and political into the world — and, therefore, the press has not been all that kind to her.
And so she finds reasons sometimes to not participate in things like, in this case, mental health reasons in the French Open. She’s not gonna participate, and so this admission of hers over the weekend of contending with mental health issues since 2018 — and she’s gonna take time away from the sport — is probably gonna lead to a bunch of groups speaking out for her (which she can do on her own and chooses not to) and against her.
So, you know, she’s a serious player. She beat Serena Williams as the most popular, probably the most celebrated player on the women’s professional tennis circuit — and press was brutal to her, and likely so were other people. Now, why mention this on Rush’s program? (laughs) Because Rush spoke about her and this back in 2018, and only the Maha’s intelligence could spot this incredible comparison, Serena Williams, Hillary Clinton, Naomi Osaka, and Donald Trump. Listen.
RUSH: How many of you are aware of the controversy happened at the women’s U.S. Open tennis tournament over the weekend with Naomi Osaka? Are you aware that the controversy in that final is an exact microcosm for the Washington, D.C. establishment and Donald Trump? Folks, it is eerie! And I, of course, will explain it. If you’re puzzled and scratching your head, “What in the heck can the two have in common?” It’s all identical!
I don’t know how many of you paid any attention to what happened in the U.S. Open, but Serena Williams melted down. She got swamped. She lost in two sets. She was never in the match. She got skunked by a 20-year-old upstart who, interestingly, is also a minority female. She’s Japanese, spent some time growing up in America, but her heroine her whole life has been Serena Williams and her dream was to play in the U.S. Open finals against Serena Williams.
And it happened and she beat Serena Williams, and they made her cry! They made her feel like excrement for daring to beat Serena Williams. Serena Williams was left to complain that the judges were being unfair, the referees were unfair. She threw her racket in disgust after losing a point, started shouting that she’s never cheated, that she’s honest, that she’s got a daughter now, she’s tried to be an excellent role model, demanding that the referee owe her an apology.
And the tennis elite circling the wagons around her thinking the referee blew it. They had no problem booing the winner at the U.S. Open. They booed the winner! I’m telling you, folks, the comparisons are many. That U.S. Open women’s tennis final, a microcosm for how Trump is treated by the elites in Washington. Same thing. How all of us are treated, in fact. Expected to lose. Expected to be second or third class. Supposed to apologize for winning and then reject the victory and give it back, make allegations that our victory was tainted by cheating that benefited us.
A lot of people are saying, “Well, Rush, you’re missing the point on this. It’s ’cause of race.” It’s not race, because Naomi Osaka is a woman of color as well. She is Japanese, Haitian. It’s not race, folks. This is elitism. This is pure “We’re better than you. We are in an upper class and you’re not.” That’s what this is.
Now, Serena Williams is one of the chosen beneficiaries of the elites’ affection because she does check off all the boxes. But they’re also legitimately impressed with her talent. But that’s not the primary thing. I just don’t think race is the primary, predominant factor here in what happened.
I think the expectation that she is chosen, she is the perennial representative of leaders and of winners and that this defeat of hers was a personal affront to the elites, not just to her. How dare that other girl win! They made that other girl feel like crap. When she was given the trophy, when she was awarded the trophy, she was in tears, and she did apologize.
She apologized for causing all of this that upset Serena Williams. And Serena Williams sat there and nodded as though that’s exactly how this young upstart ought to behave. I don’t doubt there’s a lot of sympathy for Serena Williams because of her race, but this is elitism, folks. It’s more about being an accepted insider and losing to some exciting new outsider that drove ’em nuts.
At the awards ceremony, let me tell you about this ’cause I’m telling you that the similarities are striking. At the awards ceremony, the winner, 20-year-old winner, Naomi Osaka covered her face with her visor and cried. The crowd booed her! The president, the chairman of the United States Tennis Association, a woman named Katrina Adams opened the awards ceremony by criticizing the winner and speaking longingly of the loser.
And then the president of the United States Tennis Association turned and addressed the crowd and said, “This mama,” meaning Serena Williams, “This mama is a role model and respected by all.” This role model had just embarrassed herself with numerous meltdowns, demanding apologies, accusing the referee of cheating her, not being fair and all this. It’s classic. There are no manners anywhere. There is not a single institution, it seems, that we can turn to and rely on for just common decency.
And I’ll tell you why. It’s because every damn thing in life that the left has touched has been politicized by its ideology, liberalism. How dare they! This young woman, this was her dream to play against the best and win, and she wanted the respect and admiration of Serena Williams. How many of you can relate to this in whatever you’ve chosen to do in your life? I sure can.
TODD: I can’t imagine being a judge, awarding to a young woman who has dedicated her life to a career in professional sports… The sacrifices people make to be at the top of anything. It’s remarkable. Sacrifices in diet, sacrifices in the time in your life, sacrifices in terms of gaining deep friendships, sacrifices with family, sacrifices with educational opportunities. Albeit, you can gain educational opportunities by being in life.
You don’t need to be in school to get educational opportunities, but to turn that against this young women because she has the audacity to beat the establishment? You hear what Rush is saying there. Let’s go back and let’s consider some of the calls that we had today, talking about the effort to get rid of Donald Trump at all costs. And this leader in this tennis organization, the cost was what? This young woman’s mental health?
What was the cost to get rid of Trump, to cancel the election? The elites must maintain their elitism, even if it’s just emotional. I don’t think they went through the thinking of, “Hey, let’s destroy this young woman’s state of mind and her mental health and let’s attack her.” I think they just responded emotionally. I don’t even think they could explain why. It’s emotional! In D.C., the swamp can absolutely explain why.
“Trump is not controllable, he’s not sellable, he’s not predictable. He’s not someone that we can constantly con into or threaten into doing our will.” You think they didn’t get Trump and say, “Hey, look, they’ve got Russia on you. You’ve got to fade into the background. Let Mike Pence run thing; we’re gonna protect you. But if you don’t, you’re gonna end up in a prison cell.
“Your family’s gonna end up in a prison cell. They’ve got you on this. It doesn’t matter if you did it or not.” Any other president would have folded — any other one, right? And I hope this young woman will continue to stand by her guns and continue to be herself. I don’t know what she thinks of politics or anything. It just can’t stand elitism.
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