CLEVELAND, OHIO - SEPTEMBER 29: U.S. President Donald Trump participates in the first presidential debate against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden at the Health Education Campus of Case Western Reserve University on September 29, 2020 in Cleveland, Ohio. This is the first of three planned debates between the two candidates in the lead up to the election on November 3. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)On Tuesday night, President Donald Trump and democratic challenger Joe Biden took the stage for the first of several presidential debates.
After debating the pandemic, taxes and a series of other topics, the two finally landed on the topic of football. Well, in reality, President Trump mentioned it while debating a different topic.
In August, Trump reportedly had a call with Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren about the 2020 college football season. At the time, the Big Ten had canceled the season with eyes toward playing in the spring.
Following the call – and plenty of pressure from Big Ten coaches, players and their parents – the Big Ten reversed course. On Tuesday night, Trump took credit for that change.
Trump: “I was the one who brought back Big Ten Football.”
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) September 30, 2020
Two weeks ago, an anonymous Big Ten president said Trump was not involved in the conference deciding to play this fall.
“President Trump had nothing to do with our decision and did not impact the deliberations,” a Big Ten president reportedly told White House correspondent Peter Alexander of NBC News. “In fact, when his name came up, it was a negative because no one wanted this to be political.”
We’ll never truly know President Trump’s involvement in the decision to play this fall.
Big Ten football fans don’t really care, they just wanted to see their favorite teams on the field. On October 24, that wish becomes a reality.
Big Ten play kicks off on October 24 and runs through championship week, set for December 19.
