Sean Doolittle Cites Autistic Brother-In-Law and More as Motivation for Skipping White House Visit

He could be joined by more of his teammates, but as of now, Washington Nationals closer Sean Doolittle is the only player who has publicly declined attending the White House on Monday in celebration of the team's World Series title.

While Doolittle disagrees with the bulk of President Donald Trump's policies, it has more to do with his divisive rhetoric.

“There’s a lot of things, policies that I disagree with, but at the end of the day, it has more to do with the divisive rhetoric and the enabling of conspiracy theories and widening the divide in this country. My wife and I stand for inclusion and acceptance, and we’ve done work with refugees, people that come from, you know, the ‘s***hole countries,' ” Doolittle said.

“At the end of the day, as much as I wanted to be there with my teammates and share that experience with my teammates, I can’t do it,” Doolittle continued. “I just can’t do it.”

Even though Doolittle wanted to share this experience with his teammates, which will likely be the last time he's with this exact group, he just couldn't look past Trump and the way he conducts himself.

"I have a brother-in-law who has autism, and [Trump] is a guy that mocked a disabled reporter. How would I explain that to him that I hung out with somebody who mocked the way that he talked, or the way that he moves his hands? I can’t get past that stuff,” Doolittle said.

Doolittle put a lot of thought in his decision not to go, which no matter what side of the aisle you agree with, you have to respect it.