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Cubs owner to Donald Trump: ‘We stand up for what we believe in’

Mark Townsend
·Yahoo Sports Contributor
(AP)
(AP)

Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts isn't backing down one bit after presidential hopeful Donald Trump took direct aim at his family this week.

In a Tweet posted on Monday, Trump bluntly warned the Ricketts family that they “better be careful, they have a lot to hide,” while noting that the family has been "secretly" spending money against his presidential campaign.

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It was a stern, almost cryptic message seemingly designed to intimidate the Ricketts into backing down from their position. But it didn't work. Instead, Tom Ricketts reaffirmed his family's position on Wednesday, stating that "we stand up for what we believe in."

"It’s a little surreal when Donald Trump threatens your mom,” Ricketts said on Wednesday. “The fact is whether it’s my mom or my dad on his Ending Spending stuff or my sister on marriage equality issues or my brothers and what they do or what we do with the team, we are pretty much are an open book. We stand up for what we believe in. We support the causes we think are important. That is what America should be. That is who we are.”

According to CBS Chicago, the Ricketts spending against Trump hasn't been much of a secret at all. In fact, Marlene Ricketts, Tom's mother, is known to have contributed $3 million to the anti-Trump Our Principles political action committee. That committee paid for anti-Trump ads and mailers before the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries, according to federal election campaign reports.

Joe Ricketts is the family patriarch and the founder of Ameritrade. Along with Todd Ricketts, he's known to have spent money on the Ending Spending super-PAC, which is aimed at curtailing government spending.

Based on this information, it's pretty clear where the Ricketts have stood all along and will continue to stand, regardless of Trump's power play attempt.

(AP)
(AP)

“If we had something to hide, you people would have found it by now,” Tom Ricketts said. “I have no idea (what Trump was warning of).”

And with that, the conversation at Cubs camp turned to baseball and the Ricketts' family's hope for a World Series championship this season. But one would have to assume we haven't heard the last on this from Trump. He's not one to rest until his message is delivered, and it's that persistence that has helped fuel his campaign.

Rightly or wrongly, the Ricketts have been dragged into this thing. Now we'll wait to see where it leads and whether or not Trump can or will back up his words.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!