With cancellation of the college football season under serious consideration, President Trump joined congressmen and athletes, amplifying their calls to save the season.
“The student-athletes have been working too hard for their season to be cancelled. #WeWantToPlay,” Trump tweeted Monday afternoon, employing the hashtag used by college athletes who on Sunday launched a drive to save the season in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Lest Trump’s message be lost, he tweeted again 51 minutes later: “Play College Football!”
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany echoed that message. “These college athletes work their whole lives for this moment,” she told reporters, “and he would like to see them have a chance to live out their dreams.”
Trump is widely popular in many states where college football is a cultural touchstone, including the Deep South and parts of the Midwest, and he has called for the on-time and in-person reopening of schools throughout the pandemic. The president on Monday joined other congressmen in supporting players’ calls to play on, though they did not initially address the players’ other message, in support of forming a union.
