No doubt, I’ll probably watch Team USA in the World Cup despite my dislike for soccer. I just can’t get into it. That’s just me, but here we are: the USA is on a roll, and we have a good chance for a deep run that starts with Bosnia soon. I will watch and cheer because my country has been doing well. And then, there’s this silly article. I don’t know if it’s the fan base or the equally absurd liberal bias in sports journalism, but this was atrocious. And it’s fitting it’s printed in the Seattle Times.
Some USA fans are reluctant to root for Team USA because—you guessed it—Trump:
When Carey Lefkowitz first heard the U.S. men’s national team was going to play a World Cup soccer game in Seattle, he felt a surge of excitement.
The West Seattle marketing consultant loves how the legendary tournament brings fans from different countries together. He’s followed the U.S. team since 1994, when the FIFA Men’s World Cup last played on U.S. fields.
But now that the 2026 edition is actually kicking off, including a match Friday between the U.S. and Australia at Seattle Stadium, Lefkowitz is struggling to separate his love for U.S. soccer from his negative feelings about high ticket prices, President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigrants and Trump’s war with Iran, among other things, he said in an interview last month.
On one hand, it’s hard for the 47-year-old to imagine not watching the World Cup and rooting for the U.S. players, who hail from diverse backgrounds and have compelling life stories. He wants them to succeed.
On the other hand, it’s hard for Lefkowitz to imagine enthusiastically cheering against their opponents, because he thinks Trump is tarnishing what it means to be American on the global stage.
“It’s not how I expected to feel” about the World Cup, he said a few weeks before the tournament. “I still want the U.S. team to win, but everything that goes with that? I’m conflicted.”
[…]
“I’m an American and very proud of the freedoms we have,” Lefkowitz said. “But I can’t lose my humanity and that’s what I see as happening.”
[…]
Ken Langner will be pulling for England because he enjoys watching the English club soccer league and has some English ancestry, he said last month. But he can’t afford tickets to the matches at Seattle Stadium, typically Lumen Field, and — as a progressive who believes his taxes should be spent on healthcare, not bombs — he said he can’t bring himself to fully back a U.S. squad in this moment.
“I can’t do it,” said Langer, 69, a retired Boeing manager who has replaced the American flag he once flew outside his Everett house with a Manchester United soccer club flag. “We used to be the good guys. Now we’re not.”
[…]
While Claire Fenton always roots for the U.S. soccer men, she saves most of her money and energy for the U.S. women, partly because she hears players on the women’s team speaking out more about issues like equality.
Granted, not everyone quoted in this piece shared these loser takes, but seriously, what are we doing here? Josh Hart, a forward with the New York Knicks who won their first NBA championship since 1973, isn’t a fan of Donald Trump. He’s posted about it. I couldn’t care less. The teams I support don’t and shouldn’t have to agree with me. You could be a left-wing nut, but on game day, I don’t care.
Also, why not write about how the match against Paraguay was probably the best start for a men’s soccer team in forever, along with some analysis of how they can make a deep run. Instead, it’s a rambling piece about how disgruntled liberals are mixed about rooting for Team USA because that would make them bad, bad people.
Way to be soft, losers.
