LSU Tigers fans are happy with the final score of the 2020 College Football National Championship game. Clemson Tigers fans, not so much. I’ll just put it out there that I grew up in Louisiana and lived many years there as an adult so I’m in the former category. The final score was LSU 42 – Clemson 25.

This is not really a sports story about college football, though, it’s about the fans and how we behave in the Trump years. The big story coming out of the game, other than the outcome, was the reception that President Trump and the First Lady received as they walked onto the football field in New Orleans. The stadium erupted in thunderous applause. Chants rang out – “USA!” and “Four more years!”.

How refreshing. For a few minutes, it was as if we were transported back to a time when a president and first lady were acknowledged as they should be – with applause and cheers. You can scroll HERE to see a good series of photos from the event. A good time was being had by all.

Then the reaction arrived on social media. Not even a college championship game escapes those filled with rage from Trump Derangement Syndrome. Actor Vince Vaughn stopped by the skybox from which Trump and Melania were watching the game to say hello. The short chat was captured on camera and soon made its way to Twitter. One reporter with a resume that includes The Daily Beast and Deadspin broke the sad news – Vince Vaughn spoke to President Trump and shook his hand. Watch the 31-second clip that sparked the decision for the outrage mob to cancel Vaughn.

I'm very sorry to have to share this video with you. All of it, every part of it. pic.twitter.com/ELMbDHZbZq

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) January 14, 2020

All he did was smile, have what looked to be a little pleasant small talk with the president and Melania, then shook Trump’s hand, waved goodbye to others, and left. In other words, he behaved as a regular adult in a social setting. But, no. It was like that time Ellen DeGeneres sat next to and spoke to former President George W. Bush at at the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers game in Dallas.

The twist of this story is that now we are being told that the reporter wasn’t criticizing Vaughn, he was just being sarcastic about the song playing – Sweet Caroline, or something. A reporter for MMFA weighed in by bashing the “right-wing accounts” for claiming Vaughn is now cancelled.

The caption is about the people singing along to Sweet Caroline and now I’m getting actual death threats on the phone https://t.co/BKtx9bWfZA

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) January 14, 2020

It’s all as dumb as the story was about Degeneres and Bush. It does speak to the divisive environment in which we all live. Twitter isn’t real life for most of America, and Trump’s welcome was a positive thing for viewers across the country. Americans are worn out by politics invading every single aspect of life, including sports.

Vince Vaughn is a Libertarian. He supported Rand Paul in 2016. He votes Republican. None of this is breaking news. Vaughn has never shied away from voicing a political opinion that runs opposite of his entertainment industry peers. Most of the tweets criticizing Vaughn for chatting with Trump were from small user accounts, not from fellow celebrities.

One Facebook post spoke to the support for our military that Vince Vaughn shows, including visiting troops overseas.

https://www.facebook.com/63105846/posts/10101432818627412/?d=n

Vaughn isn’t a saint but he’s able to rise above the nonsense and be a decent human being in social circumstances. His willingness to make the day of a military man serving overseas puts him at the top of the list of Hollywood celebs.

It was good to be reminded that not all of the country wants to boo the president when he shows up at a public event. The Washington Post even wrote a decent piece about Trump’s welcome. That must have been a bitter pill to swallow. A quote from LSU’s quarterback summed it up nicely.

Trump knows both teams fairly well; he was warmly welcomed at the LSU-Alabama game in November in Tuscaloosa, Ala. “Regardless of your political views, that’s pretty cool, having the president at the game,” LSU quarterback Joe Burrow, the hero of the championship game Monday night, remarked then. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat or a Republican, [having] a president at the game is pretty cool.”

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1216961142867681280