A popular ESPN host is posting public defenses and threatening lawsuits after his selfie with President Donald Trump spurred a backlash.
Pat McAfee's decision to pose with the president at the so-called "Patriot Games" in Ohio — where teens were competing for $250,000 in scholarship money — spurred outrage on the left and right for a variety of reasons.
Sports reporter Rory Robinson for the site Daily Express U.S. shamed McAfee for his decision to wear his cap backwards when meeting Trump.
“What a clown show," Robinson wrote. "You have the privilege of meeting the president of the United States on the tarmac, and you greet him with a backward baseball hat like a child."
Journalist Aaron Rupar replied to the selfies with the simple critique, “Off the charts cringe.”
When one X user shared video of McAfee and Trump with the message "Can we finally cancel Pat?", the host took time to respond.
McAfee argued the video showed him "promoting American High Schoolers being active and competitive and potentially winning life changing scholarship money.
"On that note… I wrote and sang an entire album," he added. "The Diary Of A Polarizing Figure AVAILABLE THIS FRIDAY."
McAfee also threatened another critic with legal action after he claimed without evidence the ESPN host likely used a racial slur.
"This is grotesque… and potentially lawsuit worthy," he wrote. "We’ll have the lawyers look into that next week after."
off the charts cringe
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 12, 2026