It’s fascinating to witness in real time what happens to a person before and after they align themselves with Donald Trump, even if it’s in the smallest ways. Spoiler alert: their life always turns to shit, as we have seen time and time again. Case in point is the stark divide between the Travis Kelce before he said it would be a ‘great honor’ for Trump to attend the Super Bowl, and the Travis Kelce after he said it. It’s the ultimate schadenfreude moment of gratuitous FAFO at a time when so much of it is already happening.
Once upon a time Travis Kelce could do no wrong in these parts. He was a Dazzler of the Day, he was dating Taylor Swift (for which I happened to be very happy because why would anyone have a problem with love?) and his team was headed to a possible three-peat of Super Bowl glory. What could possibly go so wrong, so quickly and so definitively? Well, he bowed to the idea of Donald Trump attending his Super Bowl, saying it would be a “great honor” for the FOTUS (Felon of the United States, because he is literally a convicted felon, whether you want to admit reality or not) to be at the game. And as it invariably happens for all people who align with Donald Trump in any fashion, Travis Kelce’s Super Bowl dreams turned into a pile of steaming, uncatchable shit. Let’s go back to fully understand this FAFO moment…
Last year, after Taylor Swift had been dating Travis for a while, she was attacked by Trump online, who wrote “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” in all caps like a child. Now, this was to be expected – she had endorsed his opponent, and Trump’s always been a big baby, so of course he tweeted out he hates her. One would assume that Travis might have a problem with that, since he seemed to be in so much love, but I don’t recall hearing much about his reaction, which is fine, but that’s the history of Trump and Taylor.
Cut to a press conference a day or two before the Super Bowl, in which Travis was asked what he thought about Trump attending the game. (When asked if he wanted to comment on Kanye West, another Swift nemesis, he was able to simply say a one-word ‘no’.) For Trump, he expounded, saying he thought it would be a “great honor” for him to attend, and that, “I’m excited because it’s the biggest game of my life and having the president there – it’s the best country in the world – and that’s pretty cool.”
If anyone else had been President at this moment, maybe it was a safe and decent thing to say, because the office of President carries its own honor despite who fills it – in this instance, when it’s a convicted felon, that office and its inherent honor are undeniably tainted, and can no longer be separated. This isn’t hard math, and anyone who wants to cloud the issue knows they are just trying to hide behind previous ideas of propriety that the current President himself doesn’t begin to approach.
So Travis knew what he was doing right before the biggest game of his life. Unfortunately, as history has shown, once you cozy up to a poisonous snake, you stand a good chance of getting poisoned. Cut to the big game. Travis dropped the ball, the Chiefs played abysmally and completely fell apart – it’s almost like God was pissed at them for something… and the entire team seemed to be afflicted by the “great honor” of Trump’s presence. They choked, they tanked, they sucked, all under the watchful eye of Trump (well, until he left early before it was even over). Kelce’s teammate, and their star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, had made similar Trump-supporting comments (he was also a previous Dazzler of the Day whose allegiance to Trump came to light after that) and I won’t even get into the disaster that is Harrison Butker. (Did you even play in this game, sir?)
Taylor got audibly booed when they showed her on the big screen – a moment that Trump proceeded to share online with more attacks against her. The FAFO syndrome that comes from any affiliation with Trump was in full effect. That Swift was brought into it at all, and left undefended by her boyfriend, is telling and unforgivable, and I hope the Swifties take swift and thunderous action. (We are so ready for it.)
Travis, a word: that’s your girlfriend getting attacked, by the same guy who already proclaimed to the world that he hated her. And you said it was a great honor to have him at the game. That’s just fucked up. Karma took care of your ass, or maybe it actually was God being mad at the Chiefs for leaning into MAGA (religion works both ways if you want to talk about such magical thinking – you can’t give it up to the guy in the sky only when things are going well for you unless you’re giving it up to Him when they aren’t, and I didn’t hear any of those players thank God after they lost so spectacularly). We eagerly await word on how Travis might make this right; I expect radio silence because he doesn’t seem to be the kind of guy to stick his neck out to honor a girlfriend. It also speaks to a broader problem with this country.
At this point every possible moment to resist this wannabe-dictator should be taken to stop and condemn him, and when you have such a public and far-reaching platform, to not do so is a large part of how we got here in the first place. (To allow your own girlfriend to get attacked and not do anything just makes you a dick.)
One final bit of advice for Taylor Swift: it’s time for your next break-up album. Do it now.
FAFO – The First Award
FAFO – The Police Union
FAFO – The Free Press
{Hurts so good!}
