President Donald Trump isn’t afraid to butt heads with the NFL. Next week, he’ll be battling the league for eyeballs.
The Republican National Committee is hosting its first-ever midterm convention in Dallas on Sept. 9-10. Vice President J.D. Vance will address the congregation on Wednesday, with Trump following suit on Thursday.
Wednesday and Thursday are also the first two nights of the 2026 NFL regular season, with the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks meeting in a Super Bowl rematch in the opener, followed by the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams in Australia on night two.
Trump has already faced some criticism for his scheduling, including from Scott MacFarlane, the Chief Washington Correspondent for Meidas Touch News.
‘Who is going to be watching that?’
On Tuesday, MacFarlane appeared on CNN, where he mocked Trump for his decision and predicted low home viewership.
“After labor day, they’re going to have a convention in Dallas. You know how bonkers this idea is?” MacFarlane began. “First of all, the vice president speaks Wednesday against the debut of the NFL football season. The president speaks Thursday against game two of the NFL football season. Who is going to be watching that?”
MacFarlane is also skeptical about the GOP’s ability to fill the 20,000-set American Airlines Center, home of the Dallas Mavericks, which is hosting the event.
“They’re going to get 20,000 people to fill that arena? It could be a heavy lift,” he said.
MacFarlane: After labor day, they’re going to have a convention in Dallas. You know how bonkers this idea is? First of all, the VP speaks Wednesday against the debut of the NFL football season. The president speaks Thursday against game two of the NFL football season. Who is… pic.twitter.com/bPQRWV6dv1
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 1, 2026
‘A Trump rally with convention badges’
Elsewhere on social media, those who dislike Trump used MacFarlane’s comments to get some shots in at the Commander-in-Chief’s expense.
“No one has ever accused MAGA of being intelligent, and Trump hasn’t given the cult permission to watch the NFL again, regardless,” one person said.
“I’ll be watching football and losing multi-leg parlays, not watching some dumb convention,” a second person added.
“It’s a Trump rally with convention badges,” a third person commented.
“This should be reminiscent of the 250th celebration where tens of people showed up,” a fourth person chimed in.
“That’s the point. General public wont be watching so we gets sanitized clips picked out by cowardly news editors. All so Trump can look ‘competent’ and Vance can look ‘smart,'” a fifth person argued.
How much does this matter?
Of course, the people quoted above are not fans of the president to begin with, so they would not be tuning in to watch him speak, regardless of when the event was.
Then again, while Trump will have some supporters in attendance and watching at home, early reports indicate turnout at the convention could be lagging. Also, Trump may be president, but the NFL is king; good luck beating the league for viewers under any circumstances.
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