The past two weeks have been a pretty emotional time for NASCAR racer Bubba Wallace, after a garage door pull tied like a noose was found in his garage. The potential hate crime launched
an FBI investigation and the racing community rallied around Wallace in a show of support and solidarity (though the FBI controversially found there was no ill-intent). On July 6, a full two weeks later, President Donald Trump decided to tweet about the incident, suggesting that Wallace was behind the hoax. Ever the picture of poise and composure, Bubba, who was a guest on
Jimmy Kimmel Live!, addressed Trump’s blatant disregard for the truth in the most gracious way.“You know when I first read it, I was just like, man there's so much more things that are going on in the world that I feel like he should be worried about,” he told guest host Anthony Anderson via video-chat.
“But it's hard to get people to understand,” he continued, “especially when the facts are delivered on the table, and they've been there for two weeks now. So to be late to the party is one thing, but to be wrong on the factual information is another. But all in all, he did get one thing right in
the tweet: there are the great officials that continue to stand behind me, and ask our drivers and officials to continue to stand behind me through it all. He got that part right.”Bubba's response to Anderson echoed his sincere and heartening tweet from a few hours after Trump's attack when
he posted a statement to "the next generation of little ones following in my footsteps," reminding young Black fans they will face trials their white peers won't and encouraging them to "keep your head held high and walk proudly on the path you've chosen." He finished with more rousing advice:"Always deal with the hate being thrown at you with LOVE! Love over hate every day. Love should come naturally as people are TAUGHT to hate. Even when it's HATE from the POTUS.”[video_embed id='1982708']RELATED: NASCAR drivers rally around Bubba Wallace [/video_embed]The hate from the POTUS was palpable as he also suggested that Wallace’s successful campaign to have the confederate flag banned from NASCAR resulted in “lowest ratings EVER!” It's well-documented that the President
is rather fixated on ratings so that wasn’t surprising, but he might want to rethink his words after seeing how the whole of NASCAR is standing behind Wallace.On June 22, all 39 other NASCAR drivers and their crews showed their support in a march down pit road as
they pushed Bubba’s car to the front of the line right before the race began. Bubba told Anderson that it was an emotional moment that truly touched his heart.“That was a powerful moment,” he explained over the footage of him overcome with emotion. “That moment there broke me and just totally put me in my feels. And it just showed the power and the unity and the love, compassion, understanding that we have for one another at the end of the day. You know, normally, any given weekend, we are competitors. We kind of give each other that look like bragging rights look, like we want to beat each other, but in that moment, there everybody let their guard down and let themselves be a human being and show their human being side.”[video_embed id='1982064']BEFORE YOU GO: K-Pop fans credited with derailing Trump's Tulsa rally attendance [/video_embed]
