“Low information voters” is one of the most egregious phrases of “spin” in the political arena. It’s euphemism to be sure, and it certainly applies to many, if not most of Donald J. Trump supporters. Trump is certainly a very low information President, and when it comes to football/soccer/futbol, he seems to be basically “almost no information.”
Trump conveyed this when he took aim at Brazil, the world’s most successful footballing nation in history, during a White House ceremony on August 28. Yesterday, Brazil National Team Tite returned fire on Trump.
During an event celebrating the United States’ successful 2026 World Cup joint hosting bid with Canada and Mexico, Trump made a joke to a Brazilian reporter about her country’s national team.
A GloboNews reporter began asking a question when Trump interrupted, asking here where she was from. “We have the best team in the world,” she said, after informing him she was from Brazil. Trump then responded: “Except you had a little problem last time, right?”
No, not right. Brazil reached the knockout out of the 2018 World Cup, where they were eliminated in the quarterfinal round. The United States didn’t even qualify for the tournament. Additionally, Brazil won the World Cup the last time it was held in the U.S. and they beat the USA in a friendly, held in New York, just three days before Trump made these remarks.
In other words, Tite had a lot of material to work before deciding how specifically he wanted to return fire on Trump.
“My response to Trump is that we have five world titles,” Tite said at a news conference in D.C. yesterday ahead of today’s match against El Salvador. “Perhaps historically, he can better inform himself.”
Brazil and El Salvador will meet in Maryland today.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, is currently a regular contributor to SB Nation, WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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