Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said he won't endorse a presidential candidate, even as former President Donald Trump has repeatedly referenced the Super Bowl champion's wife, Brittany, as a supporter of his campaign.
While speaking to reporters on Wednesday, the football player said he doesn't want his platform to be used to endorse a candidate but rather to get Americans to do their individual part in the upcoming election.
"I think my place is to inform people to get registered to vote. It's to inform people to do their own research and then make their best decision for them and their family," Mahomes said. "Every time I'm on this stage and I get asked these questions, I'm going to refer back to that because I think that's what makes America so great."
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The political choices of Mahomes and his family were thrust under the spotlight after Brittany had apparently liked then unliked Trump's Instagram post about the "2024 GOP platform." Though she didn't — and still hasn't — outright stated her support for the Republican presidential candidate, she has since liked various pro-Trump comments on her Instagram and seemed to respond to critics in a separate post by calling them haters.
Trump has appeared to take the actions as enough of an endorsement though, saying on his Truth Social that he wanted to thank "beautiful Brittany Mahomes for so strongly defending me."
Then on Sunday, Taylor Swift fans took to social media to share their disdain for the singer cozying up to Brittany at the U.S. Open, where the women shared a suite with Patrick and Swift's boyfriend, Chiefs player Travis Kelce. Swifties felt the superstar was backtracking on her beliefs — which she's shared to be Democratic in previous election cycles — by associating herself with an assumed Trump supporter.
But in a lengthy Instagram post following the presidential debate Tuesday, Swift officially endorsed the Democratic candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris. She said the decision to publicize her support was in part driven by AI-generated posts that falsely showed her endorsing Trump, which he posted on Truth Social in August, and that the "simplest way to combat misinformation is with truth." Like Mahomes, she also urged Americans to do their own research and to register to vote.
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The following morning, Trump told "Fox and Friends" that he wasn't "a Taylor Swift fan" and again mentioned Brittany.
"I actually like Mrs. Mahomes much better, if you want to know the truth. She's a big Trump fan," he told the network. "I like Brittany. I think Brittany is great... She's a big MAGA fan."
When asked about his family's potential difference in philosophies as opposed to Swift during the press conference Wednesday, Mahomes said he doesn't think about his friends' political views as he does how they treat other people. He then skirted a question about Trump's repeated references to his wife but said that it's "about me and my family and how we treat other people" at the end of the day.
"I think you see 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," he said. "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 single day and live my life and try to live it to the best of my ability."
