Washington Nationals superstar Bryce Harper’s ribs may be aching a bit, but he’s apparently healthy enough for the AFL-CIO to tout a clip of him speaking about his father, a union ironworker — part of an hour-long film, “Being Bryce,” that debuted on ESPN earlier this week.
“Washington Nationals wunderkind outfielder Bryce Harper works hard,” blog editor and social media manager Jackie Tortora writes on the labor group’s “AFL-CIO Now” blog. “Where does he get that work ethic? His father, a union ironworker from Las Vegas, who installs rebar on construction sites in sometimes extreme conditions.”
The post also provides an MLB.com clip of Mr. Harper and his father, Ron, now retired, from the film; Politico flagged it Thursday morning.
“My dad, he worked rebar, an ironworker,” Mr. Harper says. “You know, watching my pops get up every single morning, going into work, working hard — I think that really made me want to work that hard, wanted to make me get up early and go for a run or go get my lift in or go get some early hitting in or extra hitting in and really try to better myself every day.”
The short clip notwithstanding, conservatives have tried to claim Mr. Harper as one of their own — though that claim was almost immediately deconstructed and disputed.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.