WASHINGTON, Oct 31 — Former US President Donald Trump performed the controversial "Tomahawk Chop” cheer — a racist insult to Native Americans — in support of the Atlanta Braves yesterday while attending game four of baseball’s World Series.

Trump, who was notably booed when he attended a World Series game two years ago in Washington, joined thousands of Braves fans at Truist Park in Atlanta in making the chopping motion with his right arm before the Braves faced the Houston Astros in the best-of-seven Major League Baseball championship final.

Trump was seated in a suite down the rightfield line and was joined by wife Melania in the cheer, which Native Americans have deplored as a racist insult to their culture and heritage.

They were joined in the suite by former Georgia college football star running back Herschel Walker, whose bid for a US Senate post from Georgia has been backed by Trump.

In his 2020 re-election bid, Trump narrowly lost the state of Georgia.

While Trump was US President in October 2019, he attended game five of the World Series in Washington and a chorus of boos broke out when his image was flashed on the stadium video display board.

Trump had called for a boycott of MLB after an April decision to move the MLB All-Star Game from Atlanta to Colorado in protest of restrictive voting laws passed by Georgia state lawmakers.

Racism targeting Native Americans hit home with MLB this year as the Cleveland Indians retired their nickname after years of complaints in favor of Guardians, the team’s new nickname. — AFP