Donald Trump grew to become the primary sitting US president to attend a Tremendous Bowl, touring from Florida to New Orleans onboard Air Power on Sunday to look at the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs play the Philadelphia Eagles on the Caesars Superdome.
Throughout his flight to New Orleans, Trump signed a proclamation declaring February 9 “the primary ever Gulf of America Day” as Air Power One flew over the physique of water that he renamed by proclamation from the Gulf of Mexico.
Earlier than the sport, Trump met with contributors within the honorary coin toss, together with relations of victims of a New 12 months’s Day assault in New Orleans, native cops, and emergency personnel.
Trump was met with cheers and a mixture of boos as he arrived on the Superdome for the sport.
Trump, who has a protracted historical past with soccer, performed the game in highschool and owned the New Jersey Generals within the now-defunct United States Soccer League (USFL) within the Nineteen Eighties. He later sued the NFL in an try to drive a merger with the USFL.
Throughout his first time period as president, Trump criticized NFL gamers who kneeled throughout the nationwide anthem to protest racial injustice. At a 2017 rally in Alabama, he mentioned, “Would not you like to see certainly one of these NFL homeowners, when any person disrespects our flag, you’d say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the sphere proper now. Out! He is fired.'”
Trump watched the Tremendous Bowl from a set with a number of Republican lawmakers, together with Senators Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott and Home Speaker Mike Johnson. He saluted throughout the nationwide anthem. Kansas Metropolis quarterback Patrick Mahomes‘ household visited Trump within the suite.
In an interview aired throughout the Fox Information pregame present, Trump predicted a Kansas Metropolis victory. “I assume you need to say that when a quarterback wins as a lot as he is gained, I’ve to go along with Kansas Metropolis,” he mentioned. “He is a fantastic, nice quarterback.”
The NFL just lately eliminated “Finish Racism” slogans from the tip zones, a choice some have linked to Trump’s latest order canceling federal range, fairness, and inclusion packages. Nevertheless, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell mentioned the league’s range insurance policies aren’t affected by the administration’s stance. The league changed the message with “Select Love” for the Tremendous Bowl, referencing latest tragedies, together with the New 12 months’s Day assault in New Orleans.
Trump has longstanding ties to sports activities past soccer. He’s an avid golfer, owns a number of programs, and has hosted tournaments. On the identical day because the Tremendous Bowl, he performed golf with Tiger Woods in Florida. He has additionally attended boxing and UFC occasions. Some NFL workforce homeowners have donated to Trump’s campaigns, and he has maintained friendships with former gamers like Herschel Walker and Doug Flutie.
Final week, Trump signed an order affecting transgender participation in girls’s sports activities by proscribing federal funding for faculties that don’t comply. In an announcement earlier than the Tremendous Bowl, he mentioned the Chiefs and Eagles “signify the hopes and goals of our Nation’s younger athletes as we restore security and equity in sports activities and equal alternatives amongst their groups.”
Taylor Swift will get booed
Taylor Swift attended the Tremendous Bowl once more to look at Travis Kelce and the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs play the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
In contrast to final yr, her reception was completely different. Whereas she was loudly cheered upon arriving on the sport in Las Vegas, this time she was booed by a largely pro-Eagles crowd when proven on the video boards contained in the Superdome throughout a first-quarter break.
Seated subsequent to rapper Ice Spice, Swift reacted with a side-eye and a slight nostril wrinkle upon realizing the booing was geared toward her.
