Former President Donald J. Trump got a rousing welcome at the Alabama-Georgia college football game on Saturday, a throwback to the days when he attended major sporting events when he was in the White House.
It was already an electric fall evening at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala., when the SEC rivals met in a nationally televised game with championship implications and Trump’s presence supercharged the atmosphere with the sold-out crowd of over 100,000 going wild when the GOP nominee’s picture was flashed on the Jumbotron television screen.
Happening now in Tuscaloosa! President Trump shown on the jumbotron at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Alabama… pic.twitter.com/66glPPge9N
— Dan Scavino Jr. (@DanScavino) September 29, 2024
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) September 29, 2024
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) September 29, 2024
HAPPENING NOW! President Trump arrives at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa for the Alabama vs. Georgia football game… pic.twitter.com/nYs4Hg2E2q
— Dan Scavino Jr. (@DanScavino) September 29, 2024
Trump, who was greeted with chants of “USA! USA! USA!” attended the game with Kid Rock and John Daly, a day after the golf legend’s Florida home was destroyed by Hurricane Helene.
The former president also passed out food to the fans in concession lines, including chicken tenders.
President @realDonaldTrump handing out chicken tenders at Bryant-Denny Stadium
From Margo Martin @margommartin Deputy Director of Communications:pic.twitter.com/z0aS1sVxf5
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) September 29, 2024
While he was at the game, Trump also did an interview with Outkick founder, nationally syndicated talk radio host and uber-SEC fan Clay Travis.
Clay Travis interviews Donald Trump at the Alabama vs Georgia game@ClayTravis @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/o7pppjzByq
— OutKick (@Outkick) September 29, 2024
“There has never been energy like there is now,” Trump said, remarking on his appeal with younger people. “And I guess it’s me, but it’s also when they look at our country and what has happened. Our country is going bad, and it’s in a very dangerous place right now. But we love our country, and we’re going to make it great again.”
“Big time college football is as big as the NFL. I don’t know what they’re doing with the kickoff return in the NFL. And I don’t want to get involved in controversy, of course, but it looks so bad,” Trump added, criticizing the “woke” professional league’s controversial rule change.
“And I noticed that they hadn’t’ done that in college, and they shouldn’t do it,” the former president added. “And I think the NFL should go back. And maybe it is a little bit more dangerous, but I doubt that it’s any more dangerous. It’s football.”
“I think they made a terrible mistake in doing that,” Trump said.
There couldn’t have been a more telling contrast between Trump and Democrat nominee Kamala Harris whose own big crowds have been exposed as Astroturf trickery and her campaign’s silly stunt of flying a banner over the stadium whining about not getting another rigged debate was sad and pathetic.
When Trump is at tonight’s Alabama-Georgia game, the Harris campaign has arranged to have a small plane fly over Tuscaloosa with a banner declaring, “Trump’s Punting on 2nd Debate.” https://t.co/xKzdQvJj1B
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) September 28, 2024
The stunt, which was reported by CNN, was as underwhelming as her campaign and if it even materialized, the flyover with the “Trump’s Punting on 2nd Debate” message didn’t make the primetime broadcast.
Kamala’s running mate, “Tampon Tim” Walz also took in some football on Saturday, but the Minnesota governor got a much different reaction from fans than Trump.
Tampon Tim gets booed outside the Big House pic.twitter.com/tW3VsHaZ6P
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) September 28, 2024
“He got booed out of the stadium,” Trump told Travis. “And you saw the hand that we got – it was a little bit different.”
“I think Trump speaks that language with football fans in the same way that he connects with construction workers. I think Trump connects with average football fans and Kamala [Harris] is recognizing that she clearly does not, and the Democrats tried to throw up their own Hail Mary with Tim Walz and argue that he’s a coach and that he’s a football guy… but people are not connecting with him,” Travis explained.
FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT! pic.twitter.com/ZeDWJgt9fP
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) September 29, 2024
At first, the clash of the college titans didn’t live up to the hype with the hometown Crimson Tide roaring to a stunning 28-0 lead on the dazzling running and passing of quarterback Jalen Milroe who shredded the Bulldogs’ defense with the turnover-prone Georgia team looking to be on the way to a humiliating blowout loss.
But after halftime adjustments were made, Georgia looked more like the second-ranked team that they were with a furious second-half comeback that had the Tide on their heels, actually taking a 34-33 lead with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter until Milroe hooked up with speedy receiver Ryan Williams on a 75-yard touchdown that brought the house down.
Alabama escaped with a 41-34 victory and looks to be stronger than ever in the post-Nick Saban era.
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