This weekend’s sports line up offered definitive proof that Donald Trump — and his quirky mannerisms — have been mainstreamed in the popular culture to a degree that would have shocked most observers after his first presidential election win in 2016.
NFL players, UFC fighters, podcasters, and the president of Argentina are dancing to the Don’s music.
While the president-elect sat ringside at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, UFC champion Jon Jones did the viral Trump dance, swaying with alternating robotic air-punches, to celebrate his heavyweight title. Afterwards, he handed his title belt to a beaming Trump.
Four years ago, if Trump was referenced in a mainstream cultural product like Saturday Night Live, it was done in derision. After November 5, with Trump’s popularity at an all-time high among the new independent class of cultural tastemakers, athletes are using their time in the spotlight to pay tribute to Trump. In the last week, players from the Las Vegas Raiders, Tennessee Titans, and the Detroit Lions have all erupted into Trump’s signature dance. After a sack, a few of the San Francisco 49ers hit the dance on the field as well last week.
Players in a league that was once preoccupied with racial repentance have swapped out Colin Kaepernick-style kneeling with light-hearted tributes to Trump. Sports have thrown off the woke yoke, and other corners of culture could be next.
A month ago, the Kamala Harris campaign pushed ads about the “secret ballot,” insultingly implying that women would have to hide their Democratic vote from their husbands and men would do the same with their bros. The irony was that there was never social stigma to supporting their ticket, while the opposite was true for Trump. Across the country, the movement of Trump jigs signifies a collective sigh of relief, a defiant reclaiming of cool, and a renaissance of free thinking.
The dance has gone global, too. Besides libertarian-leaning Argentinian president Javier Milei, Trump’s new political ally and pal who did the dance at Mar–a-Lago, other surprising parts of the world have caught the fever. A TikTok clip purports to show a wedding ceremony in China in which the groom makes his entrance with the Trump dance and “YMCA” accompaniment. After a goal, players from the English soccer club Barnsley did the dance.
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