Politicians attending a sporting event is an old campaign trope.
But no one had ever seen anything like this.
And when Donald Trump attended a football game, no one could believe the crowd’s reaction.
Crowd at Alabama-Georgia game goes insane for Donald Trump
Number four University of Alabama Crimson Tide hosted the second ranked Georgia Bulldogs in what promised to be the marquee matchup of the 2024 college football season.
The crowd in Tuscaloosa witnessed a game for the ages where Alabama raced out to a 30-7 lead only to watch as Georgia roared back to take a 34-33 lead in the final minutes.
17-year-old freshman wide receiver Ryan Williams cemented his name in Alabama lore for all time with a 75-yard touchdown reception where Williams made a leaping catch along the sideline, maintained his balance so as not to go out of bounds, spun around two defenders, and then raced into the end-zone for the winning score.
The game achieved the impossible and lived up to the hype.
What made the game even more special was the fact that Donald Trump attended with an All-Star cast of supporters.
Joining Trump in his luxury suite were musical stars Hank Williams Jr. and Kid Rock, two-time major championship winning golfer John Daly, University of Georgia football legend Herschel Walker, and U.S. Senator and former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville.
The University of Alabama put Trump up on the big screen, and the crowd in Bryant-Denny Stadium came unglued as if Bear Bryant himself came back to life and strode over to the Alabama sideline to coach the team.
TRUMP LIGHTS UP TUSCALOOSA 🔥 pic.twitter.com/4AvNhuJtEU
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) September 29, 2024
The reaction Trump got from college football fans was striking.
Kamala Harris’ running mate Tim Walz showed up at what should have been friendly territory at the University of Michigan for their game against Walz’s home state, University of Minnesota Golden Gophers.
In stark contrast to Trump, Walz got booed, even though his background as an assistant coach on a high school football team is part of his lore.
THIS IS BRUTAL! Michigan college football fans BOOED Tim Walz as he entered the stadium for the big game against Minnesota
Some were screaming, "GET OUT OF HERE!" 😂
This is what happens when they can't bus in supporters to cheer like robots. pic.twitter.com/SdH8aArW1P
— George (@BehizyTweets) September 28, 2024
Clay Travis explains Trump’s appeal to football fans
Before Clay Travis became the co-host of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, Travis made his name running the Outkick website where he was one of the most popular college football bloggers in the country.
Travis attended the Alabama-Georgia game and told Fox & Friends host Will Cain that Trump’s popularity with college football fans was linked to his appeal to the working class voters that make up his base.
And that bond stems from shared values and language.
“I think college football fans are ‘salt of the Earth’ guys and gals . . . I naturally trust anyone who is a college football fan. It doesn’t matter who you root for. I feel like we speak a common language,” Travis stated.
“So when you find out somebody else is a college football fan, everything else sort of fades to the background, and you just want to talk about the pomp and circumstance, the pageantry, the traditions and everything around it, and we speak a common language,” Travis added.
Trump is a billionaire who connects with college football fans because the average person sees in Trump themselves, if they had nine zeros in their bank account.
“I think Trump speaks that language with football fans in the same way that he connects with construction workers. I think Trump connects with average football fans and Kamala [Harris] is recognizing that she clearly does not, and the Democrats tried to throw up their own Hail Mary with Tim Walz and argue that he’s a coach and that he’s a football guy . . . but people are not connecting with him,” Travis concluded.
