If it could be said that all politics is local (a saying coined by the late former House Speaker Tip O’Neill from Massachusetts during the Reagan era), the reality is today, all politics – and
a good chunk of everything else, too – is President Donald J. Trump.
Indeed, not even the presence of Chiefs star Travis Kelce’s best girl Taylor Swift could tear America’s mindset away from Trump. What some pop culture commentators had been calling the Taylor Swift Bowl turned out to be the Donald Trump Bowl as the pop diva got booed and President Trump received almost universal applause.
Versus
For example, there was a pregame segment sometime before kickoff featuring a story about former Princeton football player “Tiger” Bech who was tragically murdered during the terrorist rampage in New Orleans just after the year turned to 2025 last month. Tiger’s family and his best friend were guests at the game – his BFF, like himself, is an athlete, supplying the non-political tie-in to the annual Super Bowl.
But even when viewers’ attention was temporarily taken away to mourn or grieve, the focus soon returned to Trump himself.
Of course, the all-Trump-all-the-time impression was aided by Fox hosting the pregame show and the game while offering a brief “traditional” sit-down interview with the president fielding a few questions from Fox anchor Brett Baier. Trump (most likely eagerly) agreed to the chat to re-start a practice that senile Joe Biden had largely disdained, so expect to see Trump’s face at each Super Bowl lead-up as long as he’s in the White House.
As would be expected, Trump was straightforward in his descriptions of policy and why certain official actions were taken (and executive orders made), including a plug for embattled (to the Democrats and his haters) DOGE head Elon Musk as well as the tariff topic that’s enveloped the nation recently.
About the only thing Trump misfired on was his prediction that Kansas City would win the game primarily because of Patrick Mahomes (whose wife is apparently a Trump fan). But Trump was careful to praise Philadelphia’s outstanding team, too, especially Saquon Barkley, who went on to set a new NFL rushing record. Will there be more Trump fans in the City of Brotherly Love now?
The contest itself was basically anticlimactic as the underdog (by a point) Eagles dominated the game, helped immensely by a slew of mistakes committed by the all-everything former Super Bowl MVP quarterback Mahomes who was relentlessly pressured and pursued by a Philadelphia pass rush that wouldn’t allow him a millisecond to think or direct his passes.
One almost felt sympathy for Mahomes, something that’s not easy to generate for a veteran who’s made playing the game’s toughest position appear so easy for so long. G.O.A.T. quarterback Tom Brady provided color commentary for the FOX crew, and not even the talent and experience of the seven-time Super Bowl winner Brady could explain what was happening to Mahomes on the field.
It was embarrassing.
In the world of politics, Brady is a lot more similar in talent and presence to Donald Trump, a late-career politician who never seems to be hurried or prodded into committing the kind of blunders Mahomes made, including one pick-six Eagles touchdown and another interception (as well as a fumble lost) near the Chiefs’ end of the field, mistakes that all-but cost the AFC team the game before halftime even arrived.
Which was fortunate in one sense, because the much-ballyhooed halftime show – featuring controversial rapper Kendrick Lamar – was positively God-awful. My teenaged son mentioned how the show was to be performed by Lamar, who’d drawn attention to himself prior to being named the performer due to an entertainment industry feud with another rapper, Drake.
The world stood still as the show proceeded with actor Samuel L. Jackson providing some sort of narration to guide the audience concerning what was going on. I had to employ the captions on my TV in order to attempt to decipher Lamar’s lyrics and meaning. It was that bad, and judging by the live commentary from social media users, the entire country was flabbergasted by how shockingly terrible the presentation was.
But this was the Super Bowl halftime show. What did anyone expect?
There was also Lady Gaga’s one-song performance prior to the game, though judging by the Bourbon Street setting – and the fact that it was dark outside – Gaga’s singing wasn’t live. Many folks are aware that the oddball singer isn’t a big Trump fan (she sang the National Anthem at senile Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021), but even in New Orleans, the celebrity appeared to fit right in with the patriotic and unity theme of the day as the crowd listened to her salute the New Orleans victims and the LA fires’ first responders.
As I’ve indicated a number of times, Trump has revived a spirit of unity and commonness that is tangible and welcome. He might not have achieved his “Make America Great Again” goal yet, but the nation seems to be well on its way to coming back to a point where it’s fun to honor the flag and dwell in the greatness of America’s institutions again.
The fact Trump is willing to meet with practically anyone at anytime provides all the transparency on government policy that people need. Unlike his predecessor, Trump looks as though he seeks out every opportunity to talk to reporters. If the president predicted that Americans would get tired of winning if he assumed the Oval Office again, it’s a near certainty the establishment media has been put off-balance by Trump’s pervasive presence and eagerness to engage.
And one pay-off for Trump has been support from many sports celebrities, such as Miami Dolphins Super Star Tyrek Hill.
Therefore, this year’s Super Bowl offered a different atmosphere than the pre-Trump days. The commercials themselves did cross the politically correct line several times, but even there, it was evident Americans are no longer in the mood to simply accept being condescended and lectured to.
Rapper (and sometime Trump supporter) Snoop Dog and Tom Brady himself (also a fairly unabashed Trump supporter) produced a spot where the two talked about “hate” and racial relations/anti-Semitism. I wasn’t quite sure why the reminder was necessary, but again, this is the still somewhat “woke” NFL we’re talking about.
So, in essence, it’s likely in years to come that people will remember the 2025 Super Bowl as the Donald Trump show, the one where he became the first sitting president to attend the game itself. When the camera kept showing Trump – and the fact he was down on the field – I almost thought he was going to take part in the opening coin-flip.
Wouldn’t that have been something?
Trump went into the game with his approval rating at a record high of 53 percent, and his MVP performance at the Super Bowl is very likely to increase those numbers.
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Super Bowl LIX
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