This story was originally published by Dead Spin
Former President Donald Trump had a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania interrupted when a gunman opened fire from a roof.
Trump had his ear pierced as he hit the ground and an innocent bystander in the crowd was killed. Trump’s secret service detail was able to escort him quickly off the stage while he pumped his fist and yelled “fight!” into the crowd. Many historic photos were captured from this scary incident.Â
As word travelled quickly throughout social media, the sports world reacted to this historic day.
Immediately after the shooting, as major news outlets scrambled to collect more information, the UFC Fight Night preliminary card was underway at Ball Arena in Denver.Â
Trump is a big UFC fan, and he speaks very high of Dana White. He’s been seen ringside for many big-time fights, and UFC fighters love shouting out Trump and even shaking his hand after big-time performances. After defeating Darrius Flowers by submission on Saturday evening, Evan Elder gave Trump a shoutout.
“I heard they just tried to whack my boy Trump,” Elder said. “I’m glad that man is okay. Long live Trump, baby! Trump 2024!”
Elder’s shoutout went viral because he was the first athlete with a microphone in front of him who had the opportunity to shoutout the former president.
Many other athletes, like New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner, took to social media as the news was breaking.
“Ladies and gentleman… President Donald Trump,” Gardner wrote in a post.
Gardner had many follow-up posts as his message of support was met with scrutiny from detractors of Trump. Gardner interacted with fans who disagreed with him, saying they lost respect for him because he supported the former president. The talented cornerback posted once more, clarifying his political stance as someone who has never voted.
“In all honesty, I never voted before and am unfamiliar with politics, but I do think it’s odd to judge people based on who they voted for,” Gardner said in a post. “Maybe it’s not odd and I just don’t understand because I’m not familiar with it. Somebody fill me in.”
That was Gardner’s last political tweet about the subject, but he was not the only star cornerback in the NFL to post support for Trump. Baltimore Ravens star Marlon Humphrey posted that “Trump took a bullet for America.”
Las Vegas Raiders star defensive end Maxx Crosby posted a photo with Trump, simply captioned with a few GOAT emojis, signifying “greatest of all-time.”
The support for Trump extended further than current athletes. Even well-known media personalities like Rich Eisen weighed in with praise for the Secret Service.
“Thank you to the heroes of the Secret Service who threw themselves into what appeared to be a hail of bullets,” Eisen wrote in a post. “Find whoever did this and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law. None of this is OK. Praying for everyone there in Butler PA.”
Former Heisman winning quarterback turned engaging media personality Robert Griffin III had a viral take about not letting political viewpoints distract from the seriousness of the shooting.
Other sports stars include Roger Clemens, Jake Paul and Conor McGregor weighed in to support Trump on a wild day in American history.
