Maybe one of the most amazing things about Donald Trump is that he makes you start cheering for things you would have never supported until he attacked it. Like how Trump somehow made America actually root for Harvard. I had a similar reaction this past week, when out of nowhere, I suddenly was all in for Washington DC taxpayers to help fund a $4 billion new stadium for their NFL franchise to come back across the border from Maryland.
For context, I rarely support public funds towards pro stadiums, especially when I know the game tickets are going to run somewhere north of most residents’ weekly salary. I’m less dogmatic on this than I used to be, probably because this is what happens when you get older and more comfortable with life’s imperfections. But generally speaking, I’d rather not see taxpayers subsidize the bill for the rich to get richer.
But now, suddenly, I’m all in for the DC City Council to say yes, and for relatively new team owner Josh Harris and friends to get their new digs – at least under some conditions. That’s because Trump has decided to reopen a nearly healed culture wound and demand the Washington Commanders change their name back to their previous name the Washington Redskins. And if they don’t do it, Trump will keep the city from building a new stadium. Which is why suddenly I find myself hoping the city council forks over about a billion to help a filthy rich owners group bring the Commanders back to Trump’s backyard whether he likes it or not. It is true, politics can make strange bedfellows.
Let’s start with the fact that literally no one was asking for this fight. I mean there’s always someone insistent on fighting yesterday’s war, but this isn’t 2010, and most people have moved on. So even though yes, plenty of long-time Washington fans would like the old name back, they’d much prefer a Super Bowl win. Second, it’s not clear that Trump has any jurisdiction here, which to be fair hasn’t stopped him so far. This is far more PR campaign than legislative action. Even in DC, the President can’t mandate policy without overstepping the law or strongarming Congress. None of that will stop the White House from issuing an executive order that will immediately be challenged in court. But in the grand scheme of skillful policy making, this is somewhere between stupid and dumb.
So a few things to hopefully give some context. First, there is a huge gap between what’s been branded as woke and Washington being largely forced to rebrand as the Commanders. Redskins was a highly offensive name that was long overdue to go – and would have sooner if their former owner wasn’t something of a jerk. So equating this 2020 name change to more partisan debates like reparations or even affirmative action is like analogizing capital punishment to a parking ticket. Any reasonable person gets that, and having to explain why Washington should never go back isn’t worth the oxygen.
Second, it’s no secret that Trump deciding at this very moment to whip up the base is a fairly obvious game of three card monte to change the topic from anything Epstein. To be fair, I suppose I took the bait. But we should at least recognize Trump’s sudden interest in NFL monikers for what it is.
Finally, let’s recognize the hypocrisy of a common critique of sports and politics. Right now, Donald Trump is using sport to create a political wedge through the worst of our human instincts. And again, he’s doing so when no one wants it, including the team owner. But Trump decided to politicize sports – not just any sport, but our true American pastime. Meanwhile, any time athletes use the platform of sport for political engagement – from Black Lives Matter to supporting Title IX – Trump screams bloody murder at the audacity of athletes not sticking to sports. And I’m not here to defend nor denounce different forms of sports activism, some which I deeply admire and others I’m frankly less enamored of. I’m simply pointing out that when it comes to sports and politics, there’s no bigger hypocrite than the man trying to force a private football team to adopt a racist surname to make political hay. And if that doesn’t reveal someone’s true lack of a moral compass, I don’t know what does.
But I suppose that’s where we are. And how I somehow find myself cheering for public dollars to fund a new football stadium in Washington DC.
Keith Strudler is the Dean of the College of Communication and Media at Montclair State University. You can follow him at @KeithStrudler.
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