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Trump Joined by Sports Stars to Honor High School Athletes
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Trump Joined by Sports Stars to Honor High School Athletes

ESPN personality Pat McAfee spent Wednesday celebrating teenage athletes at the 2026 Patriot Games alongside President Donald Trump. For some of his critics on social media, however, one detail apparently overwhelmed everything else about the event.

McAfee was sitting next to Trump.

The former Indianapolis Colts punter appeared with the president at the Patriot Games in Geneva, Ohio, a national competition for high school athletes between the ages of 14 and 17. Organizers describe the event as celebrating “the character, determination, and excellence that define the American spirit.”

McAfee's involvement started before the competition itself.

He greeted Trump on the tarmac in Cleveland after Air Force One arrived Wednesday amid heavy rain. McAfee showed up in his customary casual attire — T-shirt, jeans and a backwards baseball cap — seemingly unconcerned about getting soaked. Trump, meanwhile, accepted an umbrella.

Later, McAfee took a seat beside the president at the competition.


At one point captured on video and circulated on X, someone shouted, “We love you, Mr. President!” McAfee appeared to briefly pump his fist.

That was more than enough to generate a backlash online.

McAfee subsequently posted photographs from the event and explained why he had participated.

“Had a BLAST celebrating high schoolers from across the country with the Heads of Disney, ABC, ESPN, and… The United States Of America,” McAfee wrote.

“I’m proud of all parties getting behind this important initiative to keep future generations excited about remaining active. Cheers to the incredible contestants and to next year’s Patriot Games.”


The message focused on the teenage competitors and the effort to encourage young people to remain physically active. But McAfee's proximity to Trump became the story for some critics.

According to Yahoo, social media users even produced a new nickname for him: “MAGAfee.”

McAfee did not exactly appear devastated by the development.

“Promoting American High Schoolers being active and competitive and potentially winning life changing scholarship money alongside my business partners at Disney/ABC/ESPN,” he wrote in response.

He then pivoted directly into a joke promoting his forthcoming music.

“On that note… I wrote and sang an entire album.. The Diary Of A Polarizing Figure AVAILABLE THIS FRIDAY,” McAfee added.


It was a characteristically McAfee response: acknowledge the controversy, make a joke out of it and move along.

The episode also illustrates how difficult it has become for prominent sports personalities to appear anywhere near a political figure without the appearance itself becoming a political statement in the eyes of viewers.

McAfee didn't use his post to endorse Trump's policies or campaign for a political cause. His stated reason for participating was to support an athletic competition involving high school students, including the opportunity for competitors to win scholarship money.

That distinction didn't prevent the photographs from provoking political reactions.

McAfee was already a polarizing figure for some viewers before Wednesday. His ESPN program regularly gives guests considerable room to speak, including Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who recently used an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show to launch into an extended attack on former federal health official Anthony Fauci over the COVID era.

McAfee's willingness to let personalities such as Rodgers speak freely has helped make his show distinctive, but it also ensures that controversial comments made on the program frequently become stories of their own.

Now simply sitting beside Trump has produced another round.


There is an obvious political reality here: Trump remains an intensely divisive figure, and a celebrity photographed enjoying an event alongside him can expect reactions from supporters and opponents alike.

But the Patriot Games themselves had an identifiable purpose separate from partisan politics. Teenagers from around the country were there to compete athletically, represent their communities and pursue scholarship opportunities. McAfee chose to participate and publicly praised that objective.


Critics were free to dislike his decision to appear with Trump. McAfee, apparently, was equally free not to care.

And when “MAGAfee” started circulating, he didn't retreat, apologize or offer an elaborate explanation of his politics.

He plugged an album called The Diary Of A Polarizing Figure.

For a man whose career increasingly seems to involve generating controversy simply by showing up, the timing could hardly have been better.

Written by Arthur Higgens - August 13, 2026