October 31 – It has been said many times that sport and politics don’t mix, however, former USMNT star, and current Fox Sports pundit, Alexi Lalas is challenging that convention in a controversial way.
Lalas, an unabashed supporter of Donald Trump, has been using his X platform, currently followed by 402,000, to amplify some of the falsehoods expounded by the Republican nominee.
Lalas, who claims to be open to all says he wants to challenge “the stereotype that exists when it comes to Republicans and certainly the right side of the political spectrum … I live in California, I work in soccer, I’m like a unicorn when it comes to politics out there and yet there are a lot of things that can unite us.”
Following his X feed, he has as many haters as followers, however, given that his employer is Fox, it seems that he is being given carte blanche to trigger, and bait in the desire for more clicks.
Interestingly, while a live-wire for political discussion, Lalas is known as something of a shill for Major League Soccer, rarely venturing into anything resembling controversy. This was somewhat understandable when Fox shared the rights to America’s main professional league, however, now the media rights belong to Apple TV, it’s disquieting that he is reluctant to put the league on blast.
Lalas, who hosts the soccer podcast, State of the Union, said: “It’s my channel. I program it with what I like and what I find interesting. If it offends your sensibilities, there are millions of other channels for you to choose from.”
With Fox hoovering up the rights to major events including Copa America, the Euros, and the FIFA World Cup, it’s hard for left-leaning viewers to watch their favourite sport without avoiding Lalas and his ‘woke’ opinions.
In 2020 he was highly critical of National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) players when players took a knee to call attention to issues of racial inequality and police brutality during the playing of the national anthem tweeting “Now it takes courage to actually stand for the national anthem”. Later he deleted that tweet after a severe backlash.
Last year he went after women again during the USWNT’s failed bid to retain their World Cup title writing: “Politics, causes, stances, & behavior have made this team unlikeable to a portion of America.”
With the United States seemingly torn in every direction by politics and sport, Lalas has the platform to unite, however, when your employer has an overt interest in the political landscape, it feels like Lalas has forgotten that teammates can disagree but still pull in the same direction.
Contact the writer of this story, Nick Webster, at moc.l1734875469labto1734875469ofdlr1734875469owedi1734875469sni@o1734875469fni1734875469