(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) The culture in the United States started to change after American athletes began doing President-elect Donald Trump’s iconic YMCA fistbump dance during the sports games.
CNN Sports reported that the dance is “being used as a celebration for big plays, shots and wins for American athletes,” which is very unusual since athletes did not behave this way when Trump won the 2016 election.
NFL’s San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa, a public Trump supporter, is considered the pioneer of this massive cultural movement. CNN Sports reported that he celebrated his team’s win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a dance the weekend after Trump’s reelection.
Nick Bosa celebrates a sack with Trump’s signature dance. Fine that, NFL. 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/Aq8RuwQGoh
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) November 11, 2024
“I think you know the answer to that question,” Bosa told the San Francisco Chronicle. “All the guys wanted me to do it. I wasn’t even going to do it, but the boys reminded me. And it was fun.”
Bosa danced just weeks after he wore a Make America Great Again hat, for which the NFL fined him $11,255 for making political statements on the field.
BOOM!!!!
Nick Bosa just sported the MAGA hat on National Television!
EVERYONE is speaking out now.
More will come.
THE TIDE HAS TURNED! pic.twitter.com/ZHdVYz1Urf
— Graham Allen (@GrahamAllen_1) October 28, 2024
Another athlete who became famous for performing the iconic Trump dance was UFC champion Jon Jones, who allowed Trump to hold his heavyweight title belt last weekend.
Jon Jones does the Trump dance after his KO! Lets go!! pic.twitter.com/XmfjWInfpD
— aka (@akafacehots) November 17, 2024
On Nov. 17, multiple NFL players performed the Trump dance, including Detroit Lions defensive end Za’Darius Smith, Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers and Tennessee Titans wide receiver Calvin Ridley.
Za'Darius Smith, Brock Bowers and Calvin Ridley all perform the Trump YMCA dance on NFL Sunday.
There is still a lot of football left. pic.twitter.com/yVpdIgDTtA
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 17, 2024
“I’ve seen everyone do it. I watched the UFC fight last night and Jon Jones did it. I like watching UFC, so I saw it and thought it was cool,” Bowers told Safid Deen of USA Today.
Asked Brock Bowers about his Trump TD celly: “I’ve seen everyone do it. I watched the UFC fight last night and Jon Jones did it. I like watching UFC so I saw it, and thought it was cool.”
Raiders PR ended his postgame availability after my question.
— Safid Deen 💯💯💯💯 (@Safid_Deen) November 17, 2024
CNN Sports also reported that U.S. men’s soccer national team star Christian Pulisic imitated Trump after winning over Jamaica in the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal on Monday in St. Louis.
“I saw everyone doing it yesterday in the NFL. I saw Jon Jones do it, and we were just having a bit of fun. I thought it was a pretty fun dance,” he said. “It’s not a political dance. It was just for fun. I saw a bunch of people do it and thought it was funny, so I enjoyed it.”
However, it wasn’t just American athletes who adopted Trump’s iconic dance. On Nov. 17, British golfer Charley Hull danced while walking down the fairway at the Pelican Golf Club in Florida at The ANNIKA event.
Charley Hull does the “Trump dance.” pic.twitter.com/FvXqQz0JsI
— Gregory Scherer (@gregscherer) November 18, 2024
People online spread the rumor that the NFL could ban the iconic dance, but the organization later stated that it “has no issue” with Trump dance celebrations.
🚨BREAKING: Rumors are circulating the NFL is considering banning the Trump dance after players have started using it like crazy ⚠️ pic.twitter.com/ZpoRA4ArEu
— Matt Wallace (@MattWallace888) November 17, 2024
I saw a lot of people floating a rumor that the NFL was going to ban this, but it is confirmed allowed to do the Trump Dance in the NFL. pic.twitter.com/Di7XEmfDM4
— Shem Horne (@Shem_Infinite) November 19, 2024
Even though Bosa started this massive trend, he wasn’t the first athlete to perform the dance. MLB players used iconic Trump gestures back in July after the first assassination attempt.
