Appearing on “Fox News @ Night” with host Shannon Bream, Daily Wire Senior Editor Ashe Schow discussed the Trump administration’s decision to end an agreement with Cuba that would allow baseball players from the country to play for Major League Baseball clubs in the U.S.
The move comes after the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sent a letter to MLB attorneys saying the agreement violated U.S. trade law. The agreement was originally made under the Obama administration. As Fox News reported, payments to the Cuban government are illegal under U.S. law, and the Cuban Baseball Federation was seen as too close to the Cuban government. The original agreement called for MLB teams to pay the CBF to allow the players to come to the U.S. MLB argued the CBF was not a formal part of the Cuban government.
Those who wished to criticize President Donald Trump used the move as yet another cudgel against Republicans. NBC News, for example, framed the issue as the Trump administration ending what seemed like a very obviously good policy, and quoted formal Obama official Ben Rhodes before it actually explained the Trump administration’s thinking.
Schow addressed this issue on Fox when asked about the situation.
“That’s what the Treasury Department determined,” Schow said. “It’s not as if this was something from Trump or any of his advisers – that we know – the Treasury Department said that this violated U.S. trade law. So, this isn’t like Trump – who’s not even a baseball fan – so it’s not like this is some Trump thing to attack him on. It’s the Treasury Department.”
Schow also agreed with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) — a Cuban-American — who had been pushing for the administration to rescind the agreement.
“And I think Marco Rubio has a really good point,” Schow said. “They’re not ending human trafficking, they’re just now having to pay the government to traffic people and basically pay a ransom.”
Schow and fellow panelist Stephanie Hamill of The Daily Caller were then asked about the recent kidnapping and release of American tourist Kimberly Endicott while she was on safari in Uganda. Reports still seem unclear, but it was reported earlier that a ransom may have been paid for Endicott’s safe return. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke publicly about the U.S. policy against paying ransom. Hamill and Schow both agreed that it was a difficult policy to enforce when considering the feelings of families of victims.
“That’s the whole problem. We can’t hold the family or the company for trying to protect their business,” Schow said. “If Pompeo wants that to be the rule, he’s going to have to outline some things for people going forward for how they should respond.”
CBS reported Tuesday that four men had been arrested for the kidnapping, but that they allegedly “made almost nothing” from whatever ransom was paid for Endicott and her guide’s release. While Endicott appears to be on her way home to America, her guide, Jean Paul Mirenge Remezo, has reportedly not been reunited with his wife yet, and seems to have had “a tough time in captivity.”
You can watch the full segment below: