Professional sports leagues, unfortunately, dabble more in politics than they should. Fans prefer to use sports to disconnect from the doldrums of daily life and the craziness going on in the world, if at least for a few hours at a time. Too many players all across different sports have knelt, worn messaging, or made political statements on social media that weren’t anyone’s business but their own.
However, different standards are applied to coaches and owners. It isn’t widely accepted by any sports league except perhaps the NHL to be a conservative as a coach or an owner. They certainly exist, but unless it is a coach or owner from a large-market team, those instances go largely ignored.
For the NFL, one of the most visible owners in the league made a powerful political statement Saturday night in South Carolina. Woody Johnson, a member of the founding family of Johnson & Johnson and the owner of the New York Jets, was standing behind former President Trump on stage as the presumptive GOP nominee delivered his victory speech over Nikki Haley.
Johnson served as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom under the Trump Administration and also recently pledged his support for President Trump in this year’s election. Johnson said in a recent interview: “Americans remember how good it was or how much better it was on the border, and inflation, and gas prices, and grocery prices, all that, during the Trump administration, and they want to get back there.” Biden’s approval numbers prove that Johnson knows what most Americans want.
Johnson wrapped his statement up, saying, “So I think the most important thing is getting the former president back in the White House, which looks like it’s happening.” Trump routed home-state girl Nikki Haley, winning all but one county in the Palmetto State on Saturday, all but sealing the nomination for the 45th President, despite Haley’s insistence on staying in the race.
It was an early evening for President Trump, as the state was called merely minutes after the polls closed. Trump addressed the crowd gathered at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds in the capital of Columbia. He said: “It’s an early evening and a fantastic evening.” At least it was for Trump. Haley, on the other hand, was once again humiliated, except this time at home.
The GOP frontrunner was in no mood to celebrate too much, as he referred to the upcoming Michigan primary. Trump added: “Celebrate for 15 minutes, but then we have to get back to work.” After the Michigan primary is Super Tuesday, which presumably Haley will lose and finally be forced out of the race. Either way, it is Trump’s race to lose regarding the GOP primary.
Watch Trump, with Woody Johnson standing behind him (to his right) here:
Hopefully, it is Trump’s race to lose for president as well. The country has been so severely damaged by Joe Biden and the Democrats that it may take four full years even to begin to fix it. Woody Johnson knows it, even if he can’t get New York to a Super Bowl.
Featured image credit: screenshot from the embedded video
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