Donald Trump Campaign Sends out Fundraising Email for College Football Despite Nationwide Cancellations

The college football season is in doubt after multiple conferences canceled fall football and tentatively pushed games to the spring. But President Donald Trump has responded by sending an email about the ongoing situation, actively campaigning for the college football season to move ahead.

New York Times reporter Nick Corasaniti posted an excerpt from the email on Twitter but did not show the entire message. The email started with a tweet from the president that said “Play College Football!” The message continued, alleging the “Radical Left” is trying to cancel college football. Trump went on to share how the athletes deserve the chance to live out their dreams without fear of them “being CRUSHED.”

Trump and several politicians have spoken out about the football season and called for teams to play their games. Vice President Mike Pence tweeted that “America needs College Football” and said that it’s important for student-athletes, schools and the nation. He also used the “WeWantToPlay” hashtag incorporated by many top athletes in recent days.

“Hopefully we can watch colleges play football,” Trump said on Tuesday during a news conference. “We want to get football in colleges. College football, get out there and play football. People want to see it.” The president also previously expressed the opinion that the players would not have a problem dealing with the virus due to being in very good shape.

“I mean, they’re physically in extraordinary shape,” Trump said per USA Today. “So, they’re not going to have a problem (with the virus). You’re not going to see people – could there be, could it happen? But I doubt it. You’re not going to see people dying. And many people get it, and they have… like kids they get it they have the sniffles. Young kids, almost none, have a serious problem with it.”

With concerns about the pandemic across the country, some college football players have opted out of the season in order to prepare for the 2021 NFL Draft while others have expressed their desire to play games. The conferences, on the other hand, have been split about the best approach to limit possible exposure among players, coaches and staff members.

The PAC-12 canceled fall football following a unanimous vote by the CEO group. The conference said that sports could potentially return on Jan. 1, 2020, but this is dependent on the state of the pandemic. This decision came as the Big Ten also canceled fall sports in hopes of returning in the spring.

“The health, safety and well-being of our student-athletes and all those connected to Pac-12 sports has been our number one priority since the start of this current crisis,” Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said in a statement. “Our student-athletes, fans, staff and all those who love college sports would like to have seen the season played this calendar year as originally planned, and we know how disappointing this is.”