Last Monday the U.S. Men's National Soccer Team was beaten by Belgium 4-1 in the World Cup, setting the stage for those who hate Donald Trump, to pin blame for the loss on him, in much the same way they claimed his presence was the reason the New York Knicks lost when he attended game 3 of the NBA Finals in June. On CNN's The Arena Saturday, host Kasie Hunt seriously asked if Trump is "bad luck."
Trump had called FIFA President Gianni Infantino to review the red card given to Folarin Balogun in the team's previous game, which would have meant he could not play vs Belgium. The call was overturned.
Hunt began the segment with a clip of Trump explaining how he handled his appeal, and then put forth her ridiculous theory.
HUNT: This week in history, the U.S. Men's National Soccer Team got knocked out of the world cup. They were in the midst of their best run since 2022. And then President Trump involved himself to overturn a red card. And then they lost. Coincidence? Or is the president bad luck?
Unfortunately, this was not a joke.
HUNT: We looked at the professional sports events that Trump attended this term, and his teams have a losing record. You only have to think back to last month when he attended game three of the NBA finals at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks snapped their 13 game winning streak, and it was the only finals game they lost.
Hunt said his "teams have a losing record," yet she then says the Knicks had a winning streak and only lost one game in the Finals. She then turned to CNN Legal Analyst Elliot Williams, who downplayed the whole concept, but did not totally defend Trump.
WILLIAMS: Is there some supernatural curse that the President brings? No. With respect --
HUNT: Sports fans are very superstitious.
WILLIAMS: OK, fine.
HUNT: Are you not? I mean --
WILLIAMS: Agreed. I just think with respect to the World Cup, he inserted himself into a matter that took away any goodwill the team had had.... We'd actually become a little bit of a Cinderella story at this tournament. They were doing well. And just that cloud that got put over the team by that phone call that he made really just sort of took that away for certainly every global fan and many, many American fans had a bad taste.
HUNT: I think that we also shouldn't ignore that, you know, for any sports team, right, for any group of people, there is something about the way you feel going into a match, right? What are the vibes, so to speak, that can affect how the team performs.
She then played a clip from NPR, which also energetically suggested Trump ruined the World Cup for the U.S. team. Former U.S. goal keeper Bill Hamid had no love for what Trump did.
HAMID: There was a certain level of, like, flying under the radar. And once that situation happened and our President got involved, I for sure know it kind of shifted the focus to now have all the eyes in the world and to now be sort of demonized in a way. I do feel for the guys.
Hunt, feeling vindicated gave a victorious shrug, and said, "I mean", before CNN's Kristen Soltis Anderson weighed in, basically making a case that Hunt's whole sports-curse scenario is nothing more then an example of Trump Derangement Syndrome.
ANDERSON: I'm sorry. Look, ridiculousness. The U.S. men's national team played terribly.... They did not lose that match just because of a phone call. It was a bad, bad soccer game. I do think it's so funny the way people like suddenly being clutching their pearls about this red card getting overturned. Before Donald Trump was involved, everyone was kind of in agreement that it was a terrible call.
And believe it or not, even former Clinton advisor and CNN Contributor Paul Begala couldn't bring himself to blame Trump for the soccer loss, after trashing him of course.
BEGALA: Everything he touches turns to poop.... That said, it's the team's job to win, period. That's why I love sports. That's why I love politics. You win. I don't want to hear the sun was in my eyes. The wind was in my face. The President was in the stands. He made a call. Shut up and win. I'm sorry.
At least Begala, who has no use for Trump, can see through this jinx insanity. Hunt was just presenting some Saturday TDS for all to see. This is CNN!
