There’s a hot rumor going around the internet about the Philadelphia Eagles and a possible visit to the White House. If someone could tell me where it came from, I’d appreciate it.
I tend to ignore things that go through the Internet rumor mill.
That’s mostly because I believe that anything that you put out as fact should have an original source attached to it. And by an original source, I mean one that fact checks and includes people that I can check for credibility.
But since the latest thing churning through the Internet rumor mill involves a group of people that we’ve all been talking about recently, it got my attention.
That rumor: The Philadelphia Eagles have refused an invitation to the White House to get served Big Macs by President Donald Trump.
(Notice I said “president”. While he may perceive himself a monarch, looks jacked up enough to be a member of the Royal Family, and has done enough damage to our Constitutional Republic to make coronating him just that much easier, Trump is not, in fact, a king.)
Now, if past is prologue, I wouldn’t be surprised by this.
Back in 2018, during Trump’s first term as president, the Philadelphia Eagles were the Super Bowl champs. The team was expected to go to the White House to be honored for their victory.
But if you remember this team, you may remember that many of the people on it were active in the Black Lives Matter movement. Folks like safety Malcolm Jenkins were going around the city participating in programs that tried to address the relationship between Philadelphians and the police. I met offensive lineman Jordan Mailata at one of those events.
(If you think he looks big on TV, you should see him up close. This dude blocks out the sun!)
Because of this work, going to visit a guy who advocated for players like San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick to be fired for calling for police accountability made a trip to the White House a no-go. And because we have elected a man to the nation’s highest office that has the social skills of a 2-year-old, he responded like you’d expect a 2-year-old to do.
He had a meltdown.
So, like I said, I could see the Eagles taking a pass.
But I’d like to see an article from Hall Monitor sports contributor Chris Murray or the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Eagles coverage team telling me that.
And I’d especially like to stop seeing folks report this as fact when we don’t know it’s fact.
I say this because I haven’t seen the fact that an invitation has been extended reported anywhere. To be honest, I don’t know where the president would find the time. I mean, when you’ve been spending your time handing large chunks of the federal government to a South African billionaire who is probably still pissed off that the country’s late president Nelson Mandela didn’t die in jail, alienating every single one of America’s allies, especially the ones closest to you, and declaring yourself a king, is there any time left in your schedule to insult Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts?
(Come on, now! You know he would. And while Hurts would probably let it pass, I’m pretty sure that safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson wouldn’t, thus causing a national incident.)
Since I’ve seen this rumor at least 20 times from the moment I started writing this column until now as I end it, all I can say is to please check your sources before you continue spreading it. If there’s comment from the team, post that. If there’s an actual article talking about it, share that.
Just don’t share the rumor. Consider this a practice run for when you’re told a rumor about something regarding the government and need to put on your fact checking hat…
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