The Philadelphia Eagles will celebrate a Super Bowl victory at the White House for the first time on April 28, but not everyone is happy about it.
‘Completely disappointed in the Philadelphia Eagles for tainting their absolutely historic win by accepting the orange felon’s invitation to visit the White House,’ musician Ricky Davila wrote on X, echoing a sentiment felt by many liberals. ‘Way to sell your souls to the devil cowards.’
The ‘orange felon’ being referred to by Davila is obviously President Donald Trump, who previously disinvited the Eagles from the customary Super Bowl-champion White House visit in 2018. Philadelphia was coming off its first Super Bowl victory, but when Trump learned several players planned on skipping the event, he cancelled it altogether.
Now, with only four players from that 2018 roster currently on these Super Bowl-champion Eagles, the team will be visiting Trump’s White House next month.
There had been some mystery over whether the team would accept an invite, and if the White House had even extended an invitation, but Trump’s press secretary Karoline Levitt finally cleared that up on Tuesday.
‘I know there was a lot of fake news about an invitation that wasn’t sent or was sent, we want to correct the record: we sent an invitation, they enthusiastically accepted, and you will see them here on April 28,’ said Levitt.
Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley holds the Vince Lombardi Trophy during celebrations after the Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 in Super Bowl LIX
Not everyone is happy to see the Eagles agreeing to visit Donald Trump’s White House
Levitt is possibly referring to a February report in the Rupert Murdoch-owned US Sun, which cited an anonymous source claiming the team planned to skip the tradition White House cameo.
Both Republicans and Democrats reacted to the erroneous news in the days and weeks that followed, culminating with conservative political commentator Megyn Kelly telling the Eagles to ‘GO F YOURSELVES’ online.
Now, though, with the Eagles accepting Trump’s invitation, it’s liberals who are reacting angrily on social media.
‘If the @Eagles actually go to the White House the whole team will look like the biggest bunch of genuine losers,’ one user wrote. ‘Nothing to really ruin your image more than shaking hands with a fascist who is going to drag us into WWIII.’
‘I’m really disappointed in the @Eagles for agreeing to go to the White House. It’s their choice, I’m still a fan. Just a disappointed one.’
‘It was better when they weren’t,’ another added.
To be clear, many conservatives expressed relief and, in some cases, joy, over the decision.
‘Good!’ one fan wrote before referencing the reigning Stanley Cup champions. ‘Hopefully, it is another great meeting, like it was with the Florida Panthers.’
‘Good,’ another agreed. ‘I was concerned about that. If I’d supported @Eagles and they dissed him, I’d feel betrayed beyond belief. I’d never root for them again.’
‘I’m so glad,’ a fan with the X handle, ‘MAGA Axim,’ wrote on X. ‘I take back everything I was thinking about them.’
Many Trump supporters were excited to see that the Eagles would be visiting the White House
The President attended the Eagles’ victory over the Chiefs in New Orleans but left the game early to fly back to his home in Palm Beach, Florida at an estimated cost of somewhere between $8million and $20 million taxpayer dollars.
Curiously, Trump has not yet congratulated the Eagles despite previously toasting the Kansas City Chiefs for their latest Super Bowl berth. He’s also praised Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his wife, Brittany, the latter of whom ‘liked’ a pair of Trump-related social media posts during the campaign.
‘I want to thank beautiful Brittany Mahomes for so strongly defending me, and the fact that MAGA is the greatest and most powerful Political Movement in the History of our now Failing Country,’ Trump wrote on his Truth Social network ahead of his electoral victory over Kamala Harris in November.
The Hunt family, which owns the Chiefs, also has a history of supporting conservative causes.
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, on the other hand, has a record of supporting left-leaning politicians, such as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, although he previously donated to Republicans George W. Bush and Arlen Specter as well.
