Travis Kelce’s Super Bowl Rival Jalen Hurts Just Gave A Masterclass In How To Appropriately Respond To Questions About Donald Trump
By now, I’m sure you’ve heard reports that the president, who unfortunately happens to be Donald Trump, will be taking a trip to New Orleans this weekend to watch the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl.
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If he does indeed go, he will make history as the first president to attend the Super Bowl while in office.
This is a big deal for a number of reasons, and so, the star players gearing up to take the field on Sunday have been asked about their thoughts on the matter — including the Chiefs’ tight end and Taylor Swift’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce.
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For context, Travis’s stardom has been hugely elevated by his relationship with Taylor. And after she endorsed Kamala Harris in September last year, Trump took to Truth Social, sort of like a middle-schooler in a fight with their friend, and declared: “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!”
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Around the same time, he told Fox & Friends: “I was not a Taylor Swift fan… She’s a very liberal person, she seems to always endorse a democrat and she’ll probably pay a price for it in the marketplace.” Trump also shared a fake and damaging AI-generated image of Taylor in an attempt to support his presidential campaign in August.
Despite this, Travis made no question of his pleasure to have the president in the crowd for the big game this week, telling People during a media day on Wednesday that he finds it “awesome” that Trump will likely be in attendance.
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“It’s a great honor,” Travis said before going into more detail. “I think you know, no matter who the president is, I know I’m excited because it’s the biggest game of my life, you know, and having the president there — it’s the best country in the world — and that’s pretty cool.”
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So, I’m no PR manager, but I don’t think it’s excellent or wise to say you feel honored to be in the company of a bigoted convicted felon who, among other things, hates your girlfriend and is actively trying to restrict the civil rights of numerous marginalized groups across America. And plenty of people online seem to agree.
btw a neutral “PR” “media trained” response would’ve looked like
“I’m honestly just excited to put on this game for anyone in attendance”
what travis kelce said was NOT neutral bffr
— lauren
Miami N1 & Indy N3
Travis Kelce has been one of the biggest media draws for the Super Bowl. They’ve been writing articles about all of his answers. As soon as the question was asked it was gonna be a headline no matter what he said.
He also had a choice in how to answer and he chose wrong
— The Tortured Doctors Department (@Miss_AshG) February 5, 2025
“travis kelce was media trained and—” and the media training needs to shift as the world shifts. the current media training should be nothing less than i denounce donald trump.
— paige hettinger (@404paigenotfnd) February 5, 2025
And though some have defended Travis’s answer as his attempt to be respectful and “media-trained,” many have rightfully taken issue with his words, noting that there were plenty of other ways he could’ve responded without directly celebrating Trump’s attendance — which brings us to his fellow NFL star, Jalen Hurts.
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For context, Jalen is the Eagles’ quarterback who will be facing the Chiefs in Sunday’s game. And unlike Travis, he’s currently being praised for his brief and measured response to a question about Trump.
Michael Democker / Getty Images
In case you’ve not seen the clip, when asked at a press conference whether there will be any “added pressure” with the president’s attendance, Jalen replied, “No, ma’am,” gave a half smile, and kept things moving.
Michael Democker / Getty Images
Granted, Jalen and Travis were asked slightly different things about the subject. However, both lines of questioning invited the men to speak positively about the president — and, as we know, only one of them took that bait.
For what it’s worth, Travis has never publicly identified as a Republican. Still, I certainly don’t love seeing super influential celebrities voicing a high opinion of convicted felons and sexual abusers — whether they’re the president or not.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
