The ‘Trump dance’ is taking the sports world by storm

CNN
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A dance popularized by President-elect Donald Trump appears to have taken the sports world by storm after several American athletes across the country brought it out in celebration of play this weekend.

The dance was first seen years ago during Trump’s rallies, where he played up to his supporters by pumping his fists and moving them along his body. Last month, it went even more viral when he decided to ditch a campaign town hall and instead play some of his favorite music for more than 40 minutes, swaying and dancing to staples like “YMCA” by The Village People.

And in the weeks following Trump’s historic re-election to the White House, that dance is being used as a celebration for big plays, shots and victories for American athletes — an unusual public celebration of the once and future president by sports stars who didn’t. happen a lot during his first term in office.

It didn’t begin until the weekend after Trump’s re-election, when San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa — a public Trump supporter — celebrated a sack with the dance in the Niners’ Week 10 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Bosa, who typically shrugs off sacks, was joined by a few teammates in the dance, and when asked what inspired it, said, “I think you know the answer to that question.”

“All the guys wanted me to do it. I didn’t even want to do it, but the boys reminded me. And it was fun,” Bosa told reporters, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

It came just a few weeks after Bosa crashed his teammates’ postgame interview to show his support for Trump in the 2024 presidential election with a hat emblazoned with the slogan Make America Great Again — an act that was fined $11,255 by NFL to make political statements on the field.

At UFC 309 on Saturday, with Trump in attendance, Jon Jones commemorated retaining his heavyweight title by breaking out the dance before acknowledging Trump at ringside.

Afterward, Jones made his way over to the president-elect, with the pair shaking hands and Jones allowing Trump to keep his heavyweight belt.

On Sunday, there were multiple renditions across the NFL of the ‘Trump dance’, with Detroit Lions defensive end Za’Darius Smith, Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers and Tennessee Titans wide receiver Calvin Ridley all performing it.

Bowers was asked by the USA Today writer Safid Deen about dancing after the fight, saying, “I’ve seen everybody do it. I saw the UFC fight last night and Jon Jones did it. I like watching UFC, so I saw it and thought it was cool. ”

The Raiders then ended Bowers’ postgame availability after the response, according to Deen.

British golfer Charley Hull too performed the dance walk down the fairway at Pelican Golf Club in Florida at the ANNIKA event on Sunday.

And then in St. Louis on Monday, U.S. national soccer star Christian Pulisic broke out in celebration after scoring the opening goal in his team’s 4-2 win over Jamaica in the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinals.

But afterwards Pulisic emphasized that the celebration “was not a political dance.”

He added, according to The Athletic: “I saw everybody do it yesterday in the NFL, I saw Jon Jones do it and we just had a little fun. I thought it was a pretty funny dance.

“It is not a political dance. It was just for fun. I saw a lot of people doing it and thought it was fun, so I enjoyed it.”

Double standards?

The athletes’ use of the dance is a marked change from previous years, where the use of political iconography by professional sportsmen and women was often criticized by many.

In the past, athletes like Colin Kaepernick, LeBron James and others were vilified for their public stances on social or political issues, whereas the burgeoning popularity of the Trump dance suggests a change in the wind.

And according to conservative columnist Scott Jennings, speaking on CNN, “Why shouldn’t they? Trump is back, America is back and again, it’s great to be a Republican again.”

Conversely, Fox News contributor Jessica Tarlov said it could be a sense of double standards.

“I guess we’ve gotten to the part of the Trump era where we’ve moved past ‘shut up and dribble,’ and now it’s great for athletes to talk about their politics,” Tarlov said on Fox News.