President Donald Trump plans to attend Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans on Sunday, making him the first sitting U.S. president to attend the game. A White House official, speaking anonymously, confirmed the news to the Associated Press. Previously, three sitting vice presidents have attended the Super Bowl.
Al Gore visited Atlanta’s Georgia Dome in 1994, George H.W. Bush attended the game in the Pontiac Silverdome in Michigan in 1982, and Spiro Agnew was present at Miami’s Orange Bowl in 1971. Trump’s visit to the Caesars Superdome will increase the already significant security presence. The heightened security measures come in light of incidents earlier this year.
The Sugar Bowl was delayed by one day due to one such incident. In addition to attending the game, Trump is expected to sit for an interview with Bret Baier of Fox News. The interview will be taped at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and will air during the Fox pregame show at 3 p.m. ET.
This marks the first time in three years that a U.S. president has agreed to a network interview for Super Bowl pregame coverage. President Joe Biden opted not to sit for interviews with Fox News and CBS News in 2023 and 2024.
Trump attends Super Bowl LIX
Trump had previously declined an interview with NBC News in 2018, but agreed to interviews with Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly in 2017 and Sean Hannity in 2020. There are reports that for the first time since February of 2021, the signage “End Racism” won’t be included as a message in the back of the Super Bowl end zones. The league will instead display the messages of “Choose Love” and “It Takes All of Us.” The timing of this change, coinciding with Trump’s attendance, raises suspicions.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy denied the change had anything to do with Trump. McCarthy explained that the stencils are part of the NFL’s “Inspire Change” campaign. Teams have used different messages such as “Vote,” “End Racism,” “Stop Hate,” and “Choose Love.” For instance, during the title games several weeks ago, Kansas City had “Choose Love” on its field and the Eagles had “End Racism” on theirs.
“The Super Bowl is often a snapshot in time and the NFL is in a unique position to capture and lift the imagination of the country,” McCarthy said in a statement. He added that “‘Choose Love’ is appropriate to use in the Super Bowl this year.”
Commissioner Roger Goodell was asked recently if the league was committed to continuing its efforts to further diversify its coaching and personnel ranks, mainly through the Rooney Rule. “We got into diversity efforts because we felt it was the right thing for the National Football League,” Goodell said.
“We’re going to continue those efforts because we’ve not only convinced ourselves, I think we’ve proven ourselves that it does make the NFL better.”
The presence of signs like “Choose Love” or “End Racism” can be significant, and their absence, especially with Trump attending, could give a negative impression. The Super Bowl, despite its corporate nature, still retains a sense of unity and American tradition that some feel Trump risks undermining.