President Trump went on noted COVID truther Clay Travis’ Fox radio show Tuesday morning and spouted off just about every terrible, ill thought out and hate-filled sports take imaginable.
Travis, who has pushed COVID conspiracy theories and misinformation on Outkick The Coverage and on his Twitter feed, kept the focus mostly on sports, which has increasingly become a a cultural battleground.
As athletes refuse to “shut up and dribble,” Trump has, of course, seen them as antagonists, and gone after players, especially Black players, with dog whistle rhetoric. Finding a friendly ear in Travis, Trump didn’t hold back about anything, and let loose some truly garbage sports opinions.
First, Travis asked about the NFL. Per CNN’s Daniel Dale, Trump said the season should only resume if players weren’t planning on taking a knee during the anthem.
Trump did an interview with Clay Travis, the Fox Sports Radio host (who has *thoughts* about Covid-19, among many other things.) Asked what he hears about the NFL's plans, Trump said "they want to open," but "if they don't stand for the national anthem, I hope they don't open."
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 11, 2020
Over the past weekend, many Republican lawmakers tried to score political points by pushing for a college football season while ignoring the fact that a pandemic is still raging through this country unchecked. Travis asked about whether or not there should be a season this year, which let Trump spout wild, untrue, generalizations.
Trump said "one of the great doctors" told him of college football: "'These people are so powerful and so strong, not lots of body fat,' although you could take a couple of offensive linemen perhaps and dispute that…'maybe none in some cases…they're very healthy people.'"
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 11, 2020
“These people are so powerful and so strong, not lots of body fat,’ although you could take a couple of offensive linemen perhaps and dispute that…’maybe none in some cases…they’re very healthy people,” Trumps said.
He also said that the people we need to listen to right now are college football coaches, not epidemiologists or scientists.
Asked why it's important for college football to be played, Trump said college football coaches want it to be played and they "know better than anyone else."
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 11, 2020
Trump even found time to weigh in on the Jordan vs. LeBron debate.
Asked who is better as a basketball player, Jordan or LeBron, Trump said Jordan, "plus he wasn't political, so people like him better."
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 11, 2020
And to talk a bit about UFC, for no real reason.
Trump said golf and UFC haven't lost anything "visually" with their pandemic setups, but basketball has, and also "the way they treated our flag and our anthem," and "I looked at it and I couldn't watch it," while with baseball, "I haven't made a ruling on that yet."
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 11, 2020
He saved his most despicable and racist language for the NBA and its primarily Black players, calling them “nasty” and “dumb.”
Asked about NBA people criticizing him, Trump said some NBA people are "very, very nasty and frankly, very dumb."
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 11, 2020
This season, the NBA has used their collective voice to push for social change in unprecedented ways. They continue to harness their political power and affect real change, and many have firmly and vocally stood against President Trump and his polices. Trump, in turn, has responded to their actions with dog whistle racism, that seeks to portray them as lesser then, simply because they dare to challenge him and the existing social order.
In addition to throwing around playground insults, Trump also tried to stoke racial division by pitting the NHL against the NBA.
Trump said there is "a nastiness about the NBA," the way the league returned. (Players kneeled for the anthem, have Black Lives Matter messages on jerseys.) "Ice hockey," conversely, "respected the mores, they respected what they're supposed to be doing," he said.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 11, 2020
“They respected what they’re supposed to be doing,” Trump said of “ice hockey” players.
Trump tried to hold the NHL, which has only had a handful of players take a knee during the anthem, as some kind of standard, but falling into that “us vs them” trap is exactly what Trump wants. NHL fans (and critics) would be wise to stay away from the bait, even when it is so juicy, because it only serves Trump’s purposes of division. There is no pride nor vindication to be had in Trump’s praise, however one approaches it. He doesn’t care about what the NHL represents, he’s only interested in using them as long as they serve his political purposes. Buying into whatever narrative he’s pushing only serves Trump, and no one else.
Sports has always been political, and players have always used the field as a means of self expression. Sports radio is filled with voices spouting off nonsense, but the President of the United States should spend his time on more important things.