ATLANTA — Former President Donald Trump is in attendance Saturday night at Game 4 of the World Series in Atlanta, and he performed the Tomahawk Chop as the game began.
A number of fans at the game caught the moment and posted videos to Twitter, and the Associated Press photographers on hand also captured the moment.
The Braves are currently facing the Houston Astros with a series lead of 2-1, pushing for another win at home.
Ahead of the game, Trump said in a statement that he was looking forward to Game 4.
"Thank you to the Commissioner of Baseball Rob Manfred, and Randy Levine of the great New York Yankees, for the invite," the statement reads. "Melania and I are looking forward to a wonderful evening watching two great teams!"
Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker, the Georgia Bulldogs football legend, also tweeted he was at the game with Trump.
The Tomahawk Chop is a forwards and backward movement of the arm that fans do with an open palm traditionally done in celebration at Atlanta Braves games. It simulates chopping that would be done with a Tomahawk, a single-handed ax with a straight shaft, originally constructed by Native Americans. It was used as a general-purpose tool, weapon, and ceremonial tool, according to the Native American history blog Kachina House.
Among the reasons the chop is offensive is it promotes a racist stereotype or caricature of Native Americans.
The former president has previously attended a World Series. In 2019, he went to Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. for Game 5 of that series between the Nationals and Astros.
The president was greeted by the Washington crowd with both cheers and jeers, including a chant of "lock him up," 11Alive's D.C. sister station WUSA reported at the time.
The president attended with then-First Lady Melania Trump, as well as a number of political supporters - including then-Georgia Sen. David Perdue.
At the "Save America" rally in Perry, Ga. last month, Trump suggested Perdue run for governor in a primary against Kemp - whom he has made a frequent target in a belief that the governor did not do enough to support him in his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.