KANSAS CITY, Missouri – Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said Wednesday he will not endorse Donald Trump or Kamala Harris, even though the former president continued to name Mahomes’ wife Brittany as a supporter of his campaign.
“I don’t want my seat and my platform to be used to endorse a candidate or whatever,” Mahomes said before heading to practice for Sunday’s game against Cincinnati. “I think my job is to educate people so they can register to vote. It’s my job to educate people so they can do their own research and then make the best decision for themselves and their family.”
The three-time Super Bowl champion’s comments came less than a day after Taylor Swift – who is dating Chiefs teammate Travis Kelce and has become friends with the Mahomes family – endorsed Harris for president.
Swift’s support prompted Trump to say in a phone interview with Fox News on Wednesday: “To tell you the truth, I actually like Mrs. Mahomes a lot better. She’s a big Trump fan. I like Brittany. I think Brittany is great.”
Trump began referencing Brittany Mahomes last month after she liked — and then re-liked — an Instagram post by the Republican presidential candidate laying out the “2024 GOP platform.” Shortly afterward, Trump posted on Truth Social: “I want to thank the wonderful Brittany Mahomes for defending me so vigorously.”
Brittany Mahomes has since stayed out of the political spotlight except to respond to critics on social media. In one post, she said, “To be a hater as an adult, you have to have deep-rooted issues that you refuse to heal since childhood.”
Patrick Mahomes on Wednesday dodged a question specifically about Trump’s allusions to his wife, saying instead, “At the end of the day, it’s about me and my family and how we treat other people.”
“I think you see Brittany doing a lot in the community. I do a lot in the community to uplift people and give them the opportunity to use their voice,” he said. “In political times, people will use things here and there, but I can’t let that affect how I go about my business every single day of my life and try to live it the best I can.”
Swift became friends with the Mahomes family last year when she began dating Kelce, and they often shared the same suite at games at Arrowhead Stadium. Some thought a rift had developed between them when they weren’t seen together during the Chiefs’ season-opening win over the Ravens last week, but last weekend they showed up together in New York to watch the U.S. Open.
“When I’m around somebody, I don’t think about their political views or anything like that,” Patrick Mahomes said. “I think about people and how they treat other people, and I’ve been around a lot of great people this week.”
Swift offered her endorsement to Harris shortly after the presidential debate ended Tuesday night, in what could be a potentially significant coup for the Democratic candidate given Swift’s loyal following among young women, a key demographic for the November election. The endorsement also came after Trump’s campaign released a collage of AI-generated images purporting to show Swift fans supporting him.
“I consider her to be a calm, gifted leader and believe we can accomplish so much more in this country when we are led by calm, not chaos,” Swift wrote in an Instagram post that had been liked more than 9 million times by Wednesday afternoon.
Trump’s posts “made me realize that as a voter, I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election,” Swift wrote. She added, “I did my research and made my choice.”
Mahomes declined to speak specifically about his political beliefs and instead spoke more generally about national unity.
“You know my story. I’ve met people from all walks of life and all kinds of backgrounds,” the Chiefs quarterback said, “and the best thing about the football locker room and growing up in the baseball locker room is that people can come together and accomplish something and have a common goal. We talked about this a while ago. If we can do that as a nation, we can bring out the best in each other. And that’s something I do every day.”
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