The Philadelphia Eagles won Super Bowl LIX, and people are already wondering whether they will visit Donald Trump’s White House.
The discourse stems from a two-week-old report claiming the Eagles will not visit the White House that gained traction in recent days. Many have ripped the assumed decision, while others have lauded it. All of them, however, failed to do their own research.
Despite fans being duped by fake news through seemingly baseless headlines and social media posts, the Eagles have not decided whether to visit Trump. In fact, they haven’t even been invited yet.
Three days before the Super Bowl, The U.S. Sun reported that the Eagles had already decided against visiting Trump at the White House. Jeffrey Lurie was quoted in the report saying, “I just want to win on Sunday,” in response to a question about whether the Eagles would accept an invite from Trump. The U.S. Sun, however, claimed a member of the Eagles ownership group said they “wouldn’t go to the White House,” alleging an unnamed player echoed the sentiment. Surely, Philly had more important things to worry about three days before the Super Bowl.
After going mostly unnoticed for over two weeks, the report went viral on Sunday when Eagles Nation quoted The U.S. Sun in a social media post. With more than 11 million views, the post has been met with plenty of backlash by conservative pundits such as Megyn Kelly, all of whom rushed to judgment.
On Monday, CNN’s Jake Tapper, a devout Eagles fan, posted that the headlines about the Eagles declining Trump’s invitation were not true. Front Office Sports is also reporting that no invite has been extended to the Eagles, so no decision has been made as to whether they are willing to celebrate their Super Bowl win with Trump.
It’s customary for championship teams to visit the White House. However, during Trump’s first term as president, only about half the teams that won a championship made the trip, with others choosing to boycott. The Eagles team that won Super Bowl LII over the New England Patriots in 2018 was among those who didn’t attend the White House ceremony. Maybe this Eagles team will similarly not make the trip.
But whether you favor the Eagles attending the White House or boycotting Trump, at least give them a chance to make their own decision.