There is a longstanding history of United States Presidents attending college football games. Theodore Roosevelt was a regular at Army vs Navy games in the early 1900’s. Since then, most Presidents make plans to hit up Army-Navy, which always has at least one high-level executive branch member in attendance every year.
John F. Kennedy was at the Orange Bowl in 1963 when Alabama took on Oklahoma, and former college football player Gerald Ford, a member of the University of Michigans 1932 and 1933 and national championship teams, went to see both South Carolina vs Notre Dame and Texas vs Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry in 1976.
undefined
undefined
(Photo Credit: John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum)
Jimmy Carter was in the building to witness his home state’s Georgia Bulldogs win the national championship when they defeated Notre Dame in the 1981 Sugar Bowl, and Bill Clinton came through to check out his Arkansas Razorbacks when they played Louisiana Tech in September of 1997.
Other than that, sightings of sitting Presidents at games that don’t involve Army-Navy are few and far between.
That’s why it’s rather peculiar that Donald Trump has decided to show up at Mercedes -Benz Stadium in Atlanta tonight for college football’s national championship game between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Alabama Crimson Tide.
After all, this is the city that he disparaged recently for being crime infested and falling apart when Congressman John Lewis said he would skip his inauguration.
Donald J. Trump on Twitter
Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to……
Donald J. Trump on Twitter
mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results. All talk, talk, talk – no action or results. Sad!
Folks in the city haven’t forgotten, and Trump is sure to get a cold welcome there.
He’s not showing up because he’s a fan of college football, he’s simply there to appeal to the far-right constituency in the states of Georgia and Alabama that helped him get elected. Oh, and of course there’s the attention that being at one of the country’s biggest and most cherished sporting events will bring him.
He’ll probably, given his self-proclaimed status as a “very stable genius”, will claim that the filled to capacity sell-out crowd all showed up to see him. But only the sycophant morons who miraculously still support Trump will be falling for the okey doke.
Kevin B. Blackistone on Twitter
Politics and sports don’t mix? Tell @PressSec Sarah Sanders who injected into tonight: “The President would like to…[congratulate] two great teams from …the heart of Trump country.” So noted: Anti-fascists to protest Trump at #NationalChampionship https://t.co/fRJBRVW3Km
The Atlanta branch of the NAACP is urging people to wear white to the game and to bring white towels to wave. The white is meant to mock the “snowflake” insult that Trump supporters have made against those who oppose the president.
“We’re going to make a snowflake turn into a mighty blizzard inside of Mercedes-Benz stadium when Mr. Trump comes,” Gerald Griggs, a vice president of the Atlanta NAACP, said at a news conference Monday.
The organization also planned a “Twitter storm” beginning at 6 p.m. and continuing until the game’s outcome has been decided. They plan to use the hashtag #AllTrumpsLies to highlight the abundance of Trump’s innumerable lies.
Here’s a wish list of things that could happen tonight, but probably won’t.
1. Trump is seen in his luxury box eating cheeseburgers in his bathrobe, sucking down Diet Cokes and watching Hannity on the television screen while simultaneously Tweeting, as opposed to paying attention to what’s happening on the field.
2. Although the NCAA will keep the players in the locker room during the playing of the national anthem to avoid any controversy, Colin Kaepernick shows up with a sideline pass to take a knee, forcing Trump to walk out of the game like Mike Pence did in Indy, which will limit his distraction to only the pre-kickoff festivities.
3. During his halftime show, the incomparable Kendrick Lamar dedicates “King Kunta” to Trump, on some, “Ayo Donald Trump, I got a bone to pick…”
Kendrick Lamar – King Kunta
To Pimp A Butterfly album out now iTunes: http://smarturl.it/ToPimpAButterfly Target: http://smarturl.it/ToPimpAButterflyTG Google Play: http://smarturl.it/ToPimpAButterflyGP Amazon CD: http://smarturl.it/ToPimpAButterflyCD Amazon MP3: http://smarturl.it/ToPimpAButterflyAmz Best Buy: http://smarturl.it/ToPimpAButterflyBB Best of Kendrick Lamar: https://goo.gl/PTr3FF Subscribe here: https://goo.gl/XGVyCd
4. Somehow, due to a logistics snafu, Doug Jones is seated next to Trump while rooting for Alabama, while Roy Moore gets arrested in the parking lot for pushing up on local high school cheerleaders.
5. Trump brings the actual button that he’s been bragging about in his Twitter beef with North Korea, showing it off to anyone interested in looking at it.
6. After the game, cameras catch him telling Georgia coach Kirby Smart to change his last name, because Trump insists that he’s smarter than everyone, and no one should be allowed to have the last name Smart ever again.
Fredo I’m Smart! Respect LOUD
undefined
7. During the game’s most critical moments, the camera pans back to show him smiling approvingly, thinking that the loud cheers from the crowd are due to him putting golf balls in his luxury box.
8. After the game, Trump Tweets that either Georgia or Alabama are “total losers”, depending on which team falls short.
9. Trump, thinking the game is on commercial break, calls Sarah Huckabee Sanders by her real name, Nurse Ratched, as he thanks her for doling out his evening meds.
10. He then proceeds, after fumbling with a glass of water, to honor the fine folks of Atlanta while hitting that Whip and Nae Nae, and lyp-synching “Raindrops, drop tops (drop top)…cookin’ up dope in a crock pot,” as Bad and Boujee blasts from the stadium’s speakers.
