Giants dispute notion Aubrey Huff was shunned due to Trump support

Aubrey Huff #17 of the San Francisco Giants watches from the dugout during the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on April 8, 2012 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks defeated the Giants 7-6. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) less Aubrey Huff #17 of the San Francisco Giants watches from the dugout during the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on April 8, 2012 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks defeated the Giants ... more Photo: Christian Petersen, Getty Images Photo: Christian Petersen, Getty Images Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close Giants dispute notion Aubrey Huff was shunned due to Trump support 1 / 9 Back to Gallery

The San Francisco Giants' decision to not invite former first baseman Aubrey Huff to the team's 10-year anniversary reunion for their 2010 World Series win has set off a series of strong reactions across social media.

In a statement, the Giants said Huff was not invited due to "multiple comments on social media that are unacceptable and run counter to the values of our organization," prompting Huff to lash out against the Giants in a statement of his own, claiming he was not invited because of his support for President Donald Trump.

"When I asked why I wasn't invited [CEO Larry Baer] told me that the board didn't approve of my Twitter posts, and my political support of Donald Trump," he wrote.

Huff's statement was widely shared by conservative Twitter users, who alleged political bias against Trump supporters. The Giants, however, are pushing back on that notion.

Shortly after the news of Huff's shunning broke, The Athletic's Andrew Baggarly tweeted, "Giants officials have made it clear to me they are not banning Aubrey Huff because they dislike or disagree with his political views. They believe he has crossed the line when it comes to misogyny, vulgarity and common decency. Words matter."

The Chronicle's Henry Schulman backed this notion in a tweet of his own.

"One thing the #SFGiants made clear to me. They told Huff he was not invited before he tweeted criticism of their hiring of Alyssa Nakken as coach, which he ripped as political correctness," Schulman wrote. "I'm pretty sure the Muslim women tweet sealed that call."

Gonna say this once and log off: Giants officials have made it clear to me they are not banning Aubrey Huff because they dislike or disagree with his political views. They believe he has crossed the line when it comes to misogyny, vulgarity and common decency. Words matter. — Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) February 18, 2020

The aforementioned "Muslim women tweet" is Huff's now-deleted January post in response to United States tensions with Iran, in which he wrote, “Let’s get a flight over and kidnap about 10 [Iranian women] each. We can bring them back here as they fan us and feed us grapes, amongst other things."

In other words, it sounds like the Giants are asserting that Huff "crossed a line" that goes well beyond support of President Trump.

Huff also erroneously claimed multiple times in his statement that his First Amendment rights were being violated.

"While I'm disappointed the Giants are so opposed to President Trump and our constitutional rights that they'd uninvite me to my teams reunion, it shows me now more than ever we have to stand up for our 1st amendment rights," he wrote near the end of his statement.

As originally written, the First Amendment only prevented Congress from making a law "abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press." It was later expanded to apply to state and local governments through passage of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, but has never been held to prevent private corporations from regulating speech.

Eric Ting is an SFGATE digital reporter. Email: eric.ting@sfgate.com | Twitter:@_ericting