Earlier this month, Patrick Mahomes’ wife, Brittany, liked a social media post from former President Donald Trump that listed the Republican Party’s platform for the upcoming 2024 election.
On Tuesday, Travis Kelce’s girlfriend, Taylor Swift, went on Instagram and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president.
Around the NFL, where teams are desperate for any sign, any fissure, to emerge that might derail the two-time reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, you could almost hear the wistful, wishful thinking.
Maybe, just maybe, dueling political opinions by the significant others of the Chiefs’ two key players could somehow lead to locker room discord. Maybe, just maybe, some frosty interactions in the luxury suites could filter down to the team.
Yeah, probably not.
Enter Patrick Mahomes on Wednesday, not just shooting down the idea of discord, but offering up just the kind of positive and inclusive answer to a potentially heated political question that a leader focused on the job at hand should.
In short, Patrick Mahomes isn’t publicly backing anyone, ever, but doesn’t really care about what anyone else is doing either.
“I’ve always said, I don’t want my place and my platform to be used to endorse a candidate — either way,” Mahomes said. “I think my place is to get people registered [to vote], do their research and make their best decision for them and their family. Every time I get asked these questions, I’m going to refer back to that because I think that’s what makes America so great.”
Everyone has a right to express their political opinions, but Mahomes seems keenly aware that doing so comes with some kind of response. Some people will like you more and some will like you less. Others will wonder why they are hearing anything about this from you.
Mahomes likely has his own personal leanings, but in terms of leading a football team and being a citizen and businessman in society, he says he would prefer to just work with everyone.
The QB was even asked if the fact that he and Brittany hung out with Kelce and Swift last weekend while attending the US Open tennis tournament in New York was a good image to project to the country about not letting political leanings impact friendships.
“Dating back, if you see my history, I’ve been running with people from every aspect of life and every background,” Mahomes said.
A football team is a particularly diverse group. There are people from all races, ethnicities, social classes, religious persuasions and geographic backgrounds. Nothing is going to unite everyone … except, perhaps, trying to win a third consecutive Super Bowl.
“I think the best thing about a football locker room, and kind of how I grew up in baseball locker rooms, is that people can come together and achieve a common goal,” said Mahomes, whose father Pat Sr. was a longtime MLB player. “I think that if we can do that as a nation, I think we can get the best out of each other. I think that is something I do every single day.
“When I hang out with other people I don’t think about political views,” he continued. “I think about how they treat people. And I was with a lot of great people this weekend.”
Basically he’s like many — perhaps most — Americans. Politics doesn’t need to be an obsession.
Brittany Mahomes hasn’t officially endorsed Trump. She has pushed back on those who criticized her for liking a post of the GOP platform — “You can disagree with someone, and still love them. You can have differing views, and still be kind,” she wrote on an Instagram Story — but that’s it so far. She has been thrown into the middle of it anyway.
Trump has mentioned that Brittany is a “big fan” of his and during a Wednesday appearance on Fox News, when asked about Swift endorsing Harris, he didn’t counter with his support from another singer or entertainer. He cited his favorite significant other on the Chiefs.
“Well, I actually like Mrs. Mahomes much better, if you want to know the truth,” Trump said.
Patrick Mahomes is famous for not getting rattled on the field and he just shrugged all of it off on Wednesday.
“At the end of the day, it’s about me and my family and how we treat other people,” Mahomes said. “I think you see [that] Brittany does a lot in the community. I do a lot in the community to help bring people up and give people other opportunities to use their voice.
“In the political times, people are going to use stuff here and there but I can’t let that affect how I go about my business every day and how I live my life and try to live it to the best of my ability,” he continued.
Sorry to the rest of the NFL, but politics doesn’t appear likely to divide the Chiefs.
Maybe the rest of America will follow suit.
