NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace initially thought Trump's tweet demanding an apology from him was from a parody account
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Tyler Lauletta
Jul 18, 2020, 03:02 IST
Bubba Wallace didn't realize the bizarre tweet he got from Trump earlier in July was actually from the president.Matt Slocum/Pool Photo via USA TODAY Network
Bubba Wallace says that he didn't realize that it was actually Trump that had tweeted at him earlier in July.
"I thought it was a parody account," Wallace told "Desus & Mero" of Showtime. "Some people just put one letter in the middle of someone's name."
When Wallace realized he actually been the subject of the president's ire, he responded with grace, calling for "love over hate."
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NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace has handled his online interaction with President Donald Trump with an impressive amount of grace.
But as Wallace told Showtime's "Desus & Mero," he didn't even realize it was the president who had tweeted him at first. Instead, Wallace thought it was a parody account, attempting to get his attention.
"I just happened to refresh my page," Wallace said when asked how he found out about Trump's tweet. "I thought it was a parody account. Some people just put one letter in the middle of someone's name … And then I was like, 'Ah, no, this is really him. What a bogus tweet.'"
Wallace responded to the tweet with a message of love. "Always deal with hate being thrown at you with LOVE! Love over hate every day. Love should come naturally as people are TAUGHT to hate," Wallace wrote. "Even when it's HATE from the POTUS."
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Wallace told Showtime that Trump's attempt to rile him up was "just trolling," and seemed perplexed that he had been put in a position to act more civilized than the president.
"I had to take the high road with the highest person in office," Wallace said. "How does that work out?"
The investigation found that the noose was not a direct racist attack against Wallace, as it had been hanging in the same spot as far back as October, long before he had been assigned the stall.
Since then, Wallace has had to deal with some unfounded critics, including the president, who accuse him and his team without evidence of manufacturing the incident.
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Through it all, Wallace has kept his smile, and been an impressive ambassador for the sport.
Watch Wallace's entire interview with "Desus & Mero" below.
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