Donald Trump Receives Big Ovation at LSU vs. Alabama, and Onlookers Have Thoughts

Saturday afternoon, President Donald Trump was on hand for the big battle between the LSU Tigers and the Alabama Crimson Tide. As expected, his presence was met with a variety of reactions, including many negative ones on social media. At the stadium, however, it appeared that the overwhelming response was positive.

According to various videos posted, the crowd at Bryant-Denny Stadium appeared to be cheering for the president while taking photos. There were reports of some boos being lofted in his direction, but the large majority appeared to be in favor of the president’s appearance.

As expected, this generated a significant number of mixed responses on social media.

Following the videos going live on Twitter, many football fans reacted by saying that they would be switching their Saturday allegiance to LSU considering that the Alabama fans were the ones cheering for the president. Others simply wanted to see a blowout with the Crimson Tide on the losing end.

Of course, this is Trump, so there were plenty of reactions from both sides of the aisle, as well as many more arguments that spawned in the comments. The president certainly creates a constant back-and-forth between his supporters and detractors.

Photo Credit: Kevin C. Cox/Getty

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Alabama is a state that has received flak throughout its history for various reasons, many of which are based upon racial injustice. There is a certain reputation about the south — and Alabama in general — regarding the residents’ treatment of others. For many, this reception for the president was just another reason why they look down upon the residents of the state. 

“It’s Alabama! No one is surprised he would receive a standing ovation,” another user wrote. 

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Early on in Saturday’s game, the Crimson Tide were struggling to get anything going on the field. The quarterback in Tua Tagovailoa fumbled near the goal line, giving possession back to LSU. Later, the snap flew over the head of Alabama’s punter, setting the Tigers up in enemy territory. 

Nick Saban’s team in Alabama is one that is not known for making crucial mistakes, especially in big games. So what was the reason for these issues? There were certainly many on Twitter that had an idea. 

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Is there a reason for the mistakes being made by Alabama? Many on Twitter certainly believe so. In fact, there were seemingly dozens of responses to the early mistakes in which the football fans saw a correlation between the president’s presence at the stadium and LSU’s early lead. 

Whether it was karma or something else didn’t matter. The users on Twitter just saw Alabama making mistakes after the fans cheered for Trump, and they didn’t view it as a coincidence. 

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Given that this game between LSU and Alabama is one of the biggest in college football, it would be expected that lines in the sand had clearly been drawn. Both teams have massive fanbases and don’t particularly like each other. However, there were still some fans that were undecided heading into Saturday’s matchup.

For example, what team should a fan root for if they were born in Alabama but live in Louisiana? It’s difficult to make that critical decision, but some fans have found the deciding factor. 

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Obviously, having President Trump in the stadium created some waves on social media and in person. There were some protests in Tuscaloosa as some residents opted to put impeach signs on the sides of their cars, which was met with some mixed reactions. 

Given that this situation is a bit combustible, there are some that just want everyone involved to remain safe regardless of their public opinions. Avoiding violence would be preferable. 

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Why was President Trump in attendance for this game? Is he an Alabama or LSU fan, or does he just want to watch one of the season’s biggest games? For many football fans, his presence had nothing to do with the actual game.

As some users on Twitter wrote, they believe that Trump heading to Tuscaloosa was simply in pursuit of applause. A common theme on Twitter was that many believe he was simply trying to boost his ego. 

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Considering that President Trump was in attendance, it was expected that there would be mixed reactions on social media. There were those that felt Alabama fans cheering for the president was just another reason to dislike the school. Others, however, were thinking about media coverage. 

Specifically, there were football fans that saw the coverage of Trump getting booed during the World Series and were waiting for similar coverage of the reactions on Saturday. However, many of Trump’s supporters didn’t see what they believed to be the same level of coverage.