Former USMNT keeper and NBC Sports soccer analyst Tim Howard isn’t holding back in his response to U.S. star Christian Pulisic’s Donald Trump-inspired goal celebration this week in a Nations League win over Jamaica.
After Pulisic joined Nick Bosa, Jon Jones and Brock Bowers in doing the celebration, mimed after Trump’s goofy old man dance moves, Howard responded with a column in The Daily Mail.
“Here’s my personal view: doing a dance that mimics Donald Trump is stupid,” Howard wrote. “Because, whether it’s the president of the United States or my neighbor down the street, I would never back someone who I believe is racist.”
After the match, Pulisic attempted to depoliticize the celebration. The USMNT captain said he was merely mimicking others doing the dance, and didn’t intend for it to symbolize support for the next president.
Howard didn’t buy it.
“If you’re going to make a political statement then be bold and brash enough to stand behind it,” Howard wrote. “Don’t go quiet and don’t plead innocence like Christian Pulisic.”
As with the criticism Bosa faced after flashing a “Make America Great Again” hat on Sunday Night Football and then backing off the statement postgame, Howard argued athletes who make politicized statements should come with their actual views.
Howard referenced athletes like Colin Kaepernick and even fellow U.S. Soccer star Megan Rapinoe who battled Trump publicly over a difference in beliefs during Trump’s first administration. Howard even told a story of his own time with the USMNT in which a rival fanbase cheered for late Taliban leader Osama Bin Laden. In Howard’s view, the least Pulisic can do is be ready to make a statement if he is going to take a side — just like many have done during the Trump era (and of course long before).
“Own it,” Howard wrote.
Given the ways in which soccer often becomes political (look no further than the last World Cup, and the next coming to North America during the Trump administration), don’t expect the political chatter around the USMNT to die down any time soon.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.