Trump steps into the arena to catch sports-fan voters

It took only 91 seconds for Mike Tyson to knock out undefeated heavyweight Michael Spinks in a famous 1988 fight.

Real estate mogul Donald Trump arranged the glitzy bout, allowing his nearby Atlantic City casino to rake in cash. Decades later, Mr. Trump is leaning into bloodsports and other games as he faces the fight of his life: A campaign to return to the White House.

Mr. Trump is close with Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White and a fixture at prime-time fights. New York Giants legend Lawrence Taylor showed up at a Trump rally in May and, the following month, the ex-president congratulated the University of Tennessee and its coach for their victory over a “GREAT” Texas A&M team in the College World Series.

He’s also hosted Saudi-backed LIV Golf tournaments at his Bedminster resort.

The forays into sports are “a crystal-clear reminder that sports can be politics by other means,” said Jules Boykoff, a political science professor at Pacific University in Oregon. “Trump is following a long line of U.S. presidents who have tried to use sports as a trampoline for their popularity. Think of Barack Obama and his very public NCAA March Madness bracket predictions or George W. Bush and his love of baseball, not to mention his ownership of a baseball team.”

Mr. Trump is in a virtual dead heat with Mr. Biden heading into November’s election, so both men are looking for an edge with young people and other voting blocs. One in five individuals aged 18 to 34 reported in May 2023 that they were avid fans of combat sports such as UFC, according to Statista.

Mr. Biden carried the youth vote by 25 percentage points over Mr. Trump in 2020, but a spate of polls released earlier this year warned that in 2024, Mr. Trump could flip the script.  

Young voters in the polls cited several areas in which they say Mr. Biden has disappointed them. Efforts to cancel student loans or codify Roe v. Wade have run into roadblocks and some young people say Mr. Biden mishandled the economy.

Worries about the president’s age and vigor loom above it all, particularly after Mr. Biden’s debate performance in Atlanta last month.

“By relating to sports, politicians want to show that they are fit, not only physically, but also for the challenges that await them,” said Danyel Reiche, a political scientist at Georgetown University who studies the intersection of sports and politics. “Being a guest at sporting events such as UFC fights is also a way to show that they are not an isolated elite but close to the people.”

Mr. Biden hasn’t leaned on sports to the same extent as Mr. Trump but he has some prominent players on his team. Golden State Warriors Coach Steve Kerr endorsed Mr. Biden in June, pointing to the Democrat’s push to combat gun violence.

“It’s really a very simple choice for me,” Mr. Kerr said.

Mr. Biden last year tapped a star-studded roster of Warriors star Stephen Curry, former Philadelphia Phillies star Ryan Howard and Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim for his Presidential Fitness Council, and the president used the Super Bowl to launch his campaign’s TikTok account.

Mr. Trump’s love of sports, meanwhile, has a long back story. He sparred with the NFL in the 1980s as owner of the New Jersey Generals in the rival United States Football League (USFL) and later flirted with buying the Buffalo Bills.

Some experts say his current obsession is an extension of his affinity for celebrity culture.

“It might be an attempt to connect with young people, but I think it is a species of his obsession with celebrity and with being ‘strong’ and ‘tough,’” said Lawrence B. Glickman, a professor at Cornell University who studies the intersection of politics and sports. “Don’t forget that he also has gotten into spats with popular athletes like LeBron James and Steph Curry. He called Colin Kaepernick a ‘son of a b——.’ Some teams and athletes have refused to meet him in the White House.

“So it’s not like his views about sports always make him popular,” he said. “For every Tony Romo, who goes golfing with him, there are other popular athletes who have been publicly critical of him.”

David Niven, a political science professor at the University of Cincinnati, said because a segment of the sports world is closed off to Mr. Trump, he chooses athletes like Mr. Taylor — a fierce 1980s linebacker — to contrast himself with Mr. Biden.

“Sports figures, at least the kind of sports figures willing to stand beside Trump, have qualities Trump wants to project on himself: strength, prominence, and outlaw status,” said Mr. Niven, who teaches a class on sports and politics. “The bigger purpose of trotting out sports figures is just to keep the circus going. Trump needs people he thinks are interesting to stand beside him and help keep him interesting.”

The Trump campaign said sports are an important part of American culture and can unify people of different backgrounds. 

“President Trump has always been an avid sports fan and has many close friends who are some of the best athletes in the world. President Trump is also known to be a great athlete himself, recently winning two club championships against some very fine golfers. Joe Biden could never,” said Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

During his presidency, Mr. Trump soaked in the crowd at college football events across the South and made headlines by feting college champions with a large spread of fast-food delights at the White House.

Mr. Trump is reprising his role as fan-in-chief as he confronts a series of legal woes and a third presidential campaign.

The former president received a loud ovation from fans at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, in one of his first big appearances following a guilty verdict for falsifying business records in Manhattan. Dressed in a navy suit and red tie, he raised a fist to greet UFC fans seated behind him.

Days later, Mr. Trump appeared on a podcast hosted by Logan Paul, a YouTuber and professional wrestler. A teaser for the episode showed Mr. Paul and Mr. Trump staring each other down like prize fighters before breaking into laughter.

Mr. Paul asked Mr. Trump if his younger brother, Jake Paul, would beat Mike Tyson in an upcoming fight. The former president, settling into his comfort zone, gave an answer that hearkened to his 1980s heyday while acknowledging the current landscape.

“Mike was fantastic. But Mike’s a little older now,” Mr. Trump said. “And you guys can fight.”