The date is set for the Super Bowl champion Eagles to visit President Donald Trump at the White House.
Members of the team that trounced the Kansas City Chiefs, 40-22, a month ago will head to Washington D.C. on April 28, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced during Tuesday’s daily briefing.
That’s newsworthy because the team did not visit after its Super Bowl victory in 2018 — during President Trump’s first term and amidst the on-field protests against police brutality and systemic racism by Colin Kaepernick and other players. When the team’s reluctance became clear, the White House withdrew the invitation the day before the event.
Many players were reportedly going to boycott the event. NFL Network reported at the time that team owner Jeffrey Lurie was still planning to send a small contingent of players when the invitation was pulled back. The White House instead held a ceremony with remarks from the President on the South Lawn to a group of purported Eagles fans.
“The Philadelphia Eagles are unable to come to the White House with their full team to be celebrated tomorrow,” a statement from President Trump read at the time. “They disagree with their President because he insists that they proudly stand for the National Anthem, hand on heart, in honor of the great men and women of our military and the people of our country.”
The intrigue this time was driven by a story in the U.S. Sun ahead of this season’s Super Bowl, citing multiple anonymous sources within the Eagles organization that cast doubts as to whether the team would visit this time. Statements from both the Eagles and the President debunked the story.
Even so, it seemed that President Trump was not exactly rooting for the Eagles this postseason. The President congratulated Kansas City after it won the AFC Championship, but did not offer the same to the Birds after the NFC Championship Game. Trump also picked the Chiefs to win during an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier.
