The problem with defining yourself by who and/or what you oppose is twofold:
- You no longer control the debate. Instead, the opposition decides the agenda — and you’re limited to counterpunching. You’ve forfeited the steering wheel.
- If your opponent pivots to a popular position, you’re trapped: Either you acknowledge that your opponent is right (which angers your base) or you’re forced to associate your brand with an unpopular issue.
Which brings us to the latest Democratic outrage: When Team USA played in last week's World Cup match, our leading scorer, striker Folarin Balogun, was issued a red card for stepping on another player’s foot. Here’s the clip:
More angles of the red card shown to Balogun and the US 🟥 pic.twitter.com/Rh4zjoJTHI
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) July 2, 2026
At the time, most observers — including Democrats, Republicans, soccer diehards, and international viewers — believed the red card was overkill. It should’ve been a lesser penalty, like a yellow card. (A yellow card is a warning; a red card forces a team to play a man short, plus the offending player is suspended from the following game. TL/DR: two yellow cards equal one red card.)
Overkill or not, the red card happened. Balogun was evicted from the game against Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Team USA played a man short. (America won anyway, 2-0.) Next up for Team USA: America versus Belgium, tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern.
And, as we learned yesterday afternoon, Balogun will now be playing: FIFA, the World Cup’s governing body, has suspended his suspension. It’s the first time FIFA has overturned a red card suspension during the World Cup since 1962.
Belgium, of course, was furious:
Belgium's full statement on Folarin Balogun's red card being overturned (via @belreddevils) pic.twitter.com/GgSxqeUnow
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) July 5, 2026
But that’s okay. When a country is primarily known for soccer, waffles, and Jean-Claude Van Damme (and not necessarily in that order), you’d expect a nationalist, kneejerk response. After all, the entire conceit of the World Cup is nationalism — your country against my country — and whatever strengthens your opponent will necessarily weaken your probability of victory.
What you don’t expect is the furious response from American liberals!
It’s the latest tempest in a teapot: Before FIFA overturned Balogun’s suspension, President Donald Trump phoned FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
Here’s Politico’s recap of their call:
Trump asked about FIFA’s rules around the red card decision and the grounds for a suspension. Infantino listened carefully but made no promises about the outcome. FIFA declined to confirm any specific discussions but reiterated to POLITICO that the decision to suspend the one-match ban was made by an independent disciplinary committee. [emphasis added]
The World Cup is getting great ratings. About 33.5 million Americans watched Team USA beat Bosnia and Herzegovina — roughly the same number that watches NFL wild card playoff games. But whereas our World Cup interest and excitement levels are both sky-high, our knowledge of the sport is thin.
Other than knowing (very) basic stuff, like not using your hands, most Americans don’t really understand the intricacies of the rules.
Which is why most Americans are oblivious to red cards, yellow cards, suspensions, direct kicks, and FIFA’s role in regulating officiating: Soccer ain’t our bag. We’ll still argue with a stranger over whether or not Dez Bryant caught the ball (he did, dammit!), but we don’t follow soccer closely enough to contextualize which penalties should stick and which ones ought to be overturned.
In other words, this so-called “controversy” isn’t being fueled by the soccer purists or sports lovers, but by American liberals who hate all things Donald Trump.
On Reddit, one of the leading left-wing message boards, this one-dimensional drumbeat was undeniable:
This has to be the saddest moment for FIFA and the game: it’s been deflowered
Cheat, lie, take credit if the US wins, insult the other team if they win. The felon ruins everything.
And just like that, all the good will we the citizenry have made over the last 5 weeks with people from around the world has been completely tarnished by the Pedo in Chief. We had a great thing going, and he soiled it.
As an American I will be routing [sic] for the Belgian team.
Trump has to s*** on everything.
Even if the USA wins the World Cup now it will be completely tarnished by this corruption. In the eyes of the world this won’t be a real win.
Trump has basically ruined any victory that the US might have by sticking his nose in. They can only win with an asterisk next to their name. Trump ruins it.
The US should bench the player anyway. A win against Belgium would be tainted, thanks to the Cheater-in-Chief
Well any US wins from now on can be directly credited to the fact that they’re cheating.
Trump cheats at everything.
Goodbye to Team USA’s credibility (both in Fifa and on the world stage).
F*** off, Trump. Keep your grubby little orange hands out of our game. F***ing corrupt paedo grifter.
Trump puts an ugly orange stain on everything!
As part of the sane portion of America who hates this a******, I’m sorry. We tried to stop him, but we share the country with a lot of easily duped morons and straight-up lazy-ass MF’rs who couldn’t be othered to vote.
But everyone else in America? The vast majority of our citizens?
We simply want to cheer for Team USA in the World Cup — because we love America more than we hate ANY politician.
(And honestly? We’re rapidly reaching our breaking point with those who don’t.)
Had Barack Obama been president and lobbied FIFA to overturn an unfair penalty, the same leftists would’ve stood up and applauded. The same thing would’ve happened if the president were Bill Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, or Kamala Harris.
That’s because, for leftists, their patriotism depends on who’s in the White House:
The average is being driven down by Democrats who only love America when they're in charge of it. https://t.co/ZH00P1Ypl9 pic.twitter.com/AshanYOvSy
— Possum Reviews (@ReviewsPossum) July 4, 2026
For Republicans, it doesn’t:
Worthy to note that Republicans were prouder about being Americans than Democrats were even under Obama and Biden.
— Viet Q Nguyen (@VietQNguyen) July 4, 2026
What has happened to cause the Democratic collapse in patriotism? https://t.co/i323l0q8nQ
Which brings us back to the Trump Card toppling the red card: By the first Tuesday in November, America’s 250th birthday spectacular and World Cup celebrations will fade into memory. We won’t remember all the details of who did what. (And because it’s soccer, we don’t really understand it anyway.)
Instead, we’ll remember how it made us feel.
FIFA, fireworks, our big birthday bash: Donald Trump and the Republican Party are fighting hard for America. The president is our #1 advocate, and his party is helping Americans succeed. The GOP’s brand is patriotism, stars and stripes, victory, and American exceptionalism.
Feels pretty good, doesn’t it? Go Team USA!
And the Democratic Party, by branding itself as the archenemy of all things Trump, is now identified with the exact opposite. At this point, it’s as clear as daylight: The Democrats hate Donald Trump more than they love America.
When given a choice between Trump succeeding AND America succeeding, the Democrats cheer for failure. From the World Cup to the reflecting pool — and everything in between — the Democrats only stand with America when America stands with them.
And when America doesn’t?
Sorry, but you’re a bad, evil country, and you deserve to lose.
In 1775, Samuel Johnson famously said, “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” He was 100% right.
But do you know why it’s the last refuge?
It’s because a scoundrel doesn’t actually mean it: Patriotism isn’t his core belief or an honest emotion; it’s a PR tactic.
It’s a gimmick you roll out during political campaigns to impress the rubes.
By defining itself as antithetical to all things Trump, the Democrats have branded themselves as the America Last party. It’s who they are. They’re only patriotic when it’s self-serving.
And that legacy will last a whole lot longer than the red card controversy.
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