It might seem like pop culture presidential candidate endorsement season given Taylor Swift tabbing Vice President Kamala Harris as her choice in the voting booth in November. But it doesn’t sound like Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes will publicly toss his celebrity weight to one candidate or the other.
While former President Donald Trump praised Mahomes’ wife, Brittany, on more than one occasion this election season, including on Wednesday, the Chiefs passer said he doesn’t want to use his platform to back either Harris or Trump. Rather, he’s encouraging people to make their own informed decisions about the race.
“I think I’ve always said I don’t want my place and my platform to be used to endorse a candidate or do whatever either way,” he said when asked about Trump referencing his family. “I think my place is to inform people to get registered to vote, is to inform people to do their own research and then make their best decision for them and their family. And so I think every time I’m on this stage and I get asked these questions, I’m going to refer back to that because I think that’s what makes America so great.”
In a Wednesday morning interview on Fox, Trump was asked about the Harris endorsement from Swift, who’s in a relationship with Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
“I actually like Mrs. Mahomes much better if you want to know the truth,” Trump said. “She’s a big Trump fan. I was not a Taylor Swift fan. … I like Brittany. I think Brittany’s great. She got a lot of news last week. She’s a big MAGA fan. That’s the one I like better than Taylor Swift.”
Last month, Trump lauded Brittany Mahomes through his social media feed after she “liked” a post on Instagram concerning a 2024 Republican platform.
Swift, Kelce and the Mahomeses watched the finals of the U.S. Open last weekend together in a suite. Cameras caught Swift and Brittany Mahomes hugging at one point during the match between Jannik Sinner and Taylor Fritz.
Patrick Mahomes was asked Wednesday if it was an important image that showed the couples together given the perceived political preferences between the two couples.
“I’ve grown up with people from every aspect of life and every background,” he said. “I think the best thing about a football locker room, and kind of how I’ve grown up in baseball locker rooms, everything about that is people can come together and achieve something and achieve a common goal.”
Mahomes went on to say that he wants the nation to work together for that common goal and when he is talking with people he doesn’t think about their political views, but “about the people and how they treat other people, and I was with a lot of great people this weekend.”
When asked if he feels affected when Trump references his wife, the quarterback said it does not.
“No, I mean, I think at the end of the day, it’s about me and my family and how we treat other people,” Patrick Mahomes said. “And I think you see that Brittany does a lot in the community. I do a lot in the community to help bring people up and give people other opportunities to use their voice.
“And so it’s in the political times, people are going to use stuff here and there. But I can’t let that affect how I go about my business every single day and live my life and try to live it to the best of my ability.”
Required reading
- Caitlin Clark encourages people to vote after liking Taylor Swift’s post endorsing Kamala Harris
(Photo: Al Bello / Getty Images)
