With one week to go until Election Day, it hasn’t been hard to find political figures on sports podcasts. And the latest example comes in the form of former President Barack Obama’s appearance on The Pivot on Tuesday.
For the better part of an hour, the United State’s 44th president chopped it up with Ryan Clark, Channing Crowder and Fred Taylor. And while the conversation inevitably turned political at times with Obama campaigning for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, it also featured discussions about fatherhood, life in the public spotlight, and, of course, sports, including the state of Black quarterbacks in the NFL.
“I think with Patrick [Mahomes], with Lamar [Jackson], with [C.J.] Stroud, now, I think it is a given, who is the best player,” Obama said. And the way the NFL has changed you know, you want somebody who is a dual threat. And if you get somebody like that — you look at your LSU man, [Jayden] Daniels… that’s a guy who shows you right off the bat what that means to have somebody who can throw the ball 60 yards but then also might take off for a 50-yard run.”
Ladies and Gentlemen, we present to you, The 44th President of The United States…Barack Obama 🇺🇸
That’s right Pivot family, a special presidential one today for you. Audio streaming now on all platforms and an early release now on YouTube for all Subscribers. This one is… pic.twitter.com/LuRTHrYLnA
— Pivot Podcast (@thepivot) October 29, 2024
Obviously, Obama’s appearance was a thinly veiled (if that) campaign tactic, hardly dissimilar to Harris appearing on All The Smoke, Trump’s interview with Bussin’ With the Boys and Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz’s recent appearance on The Dan Le Batard Show with the Stugotz. Perhaps the biggest difference — with the exception of Walz — is that Obama clearly knows ball, as evidenced by his ability to quickly make the connection between Daniels and Clark having both played at LSU.
What does any of this mean for next week’s election? Likely nothing — although if you’re Harris, it never hurts to have a campaigner as talented as Obama on your side. Perhaps the bigger part of the equation is the podcast providing the platform, as The Pivot continues to establish itself as a go-to destination for such interviews.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.