Donald Trump will not be attending the Super Bowl after being warned he would likely be resoundingly booed by the crowd inside the stadium, according to a report.
The thin-skinned president had previously offered the unlikely excuse that he would not attend the NFL championship game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots on Sunday in Santa Clara, California, because it was “too far away” and because he disliked the planned performers, Bad Bunny and Green Day.
However, several of Trump’s advisers have now told Zeteo that the 79-year-old was urged not to attend the game in the deep-blue Democratic state because he would likely receive a less-than-friendly reception.
Clips of Trump being loudly booed in front of tens of thousands of spectators—and potentially more than 100 million viewers at home—going viral would be “another thing we don’t want right now,” one Trump adviser told Zeteo.
Trump was met with a mixture of boos and cheers when he attended last year’s Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles.
But since then his approval ratings have plummeted across the board, with the president losing support over his handling of the economy and his hardline immigration policies, particularly in the wake of the killing of two U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis.
Trump’s dire polling numbers, combined with the Super Bowl being held in a state that has overwhelmingly rejected him in the past three presidential elections, led one aide to conclude it was “best to stay away from this one.”
“Whatever [the crowd’s makeup] ends up being, it’s not gonna be a Turning Point USA speech,” the aide said.
Trump told the New York Post last month that he would skip this year’s Super Bowl because he was unhappy that Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny would be performing the halftime show. Veteran punk rockers Green Day, who are also vocal critics of the president, are performing at the Super Bowl opening ceremony.
“I’m anti-them. I think it’s a terrible choice. All it does is sow hatred. Terrible,” Trump said.
Turning Point USA announced that MAGA country singer Kid Rock will headline its “All American Halftime Show,” scheduled to take place at the same time as the official halftime performance from Latin superstar Bad Bunny, who predominantly sings in Spanish.
Trump also offered the dubious explanation that he was unwilling to travel to California because it was “just too far away,” despite regularly flying around the world and having attended last year’s Super Bowl in New Orleans.
He told the New York Post that he would be welcomed by the crowd if he dared to go. “They like me,” he said.
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle insisted that Trump would receive a warm welcome if he attended Super Bowl LX in person.
“President Trump is working hard on behalf of the American people,” Ingle told Zeteo. “If he did attend the Super Bowl, he would receive a warm welcome because America knows he has done more to help this country than any other president in history.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
