Worlds collided Monday afternoon, a fascinating crossing of President Trump, perhaps the game of the year in college football and a football coach turned U.S. Senate candidate.
And the backdrop, of course, is Alabama.
Alabama football, of course, in particular.
As word leaked that Trump is planning to attend the showdown in Tuscaloosa on Saturday between No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama, former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville couldn’t hold back his excitement.
Tuberville, perhaps regarded as the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate held by Doug Jones that's up for election next year, tweeted his thoughts before any official announcement concerning Trump had been made.
"The state of Alabama will give you a heroes welcome, unlike some of the liberals up north!" Tuberville tweeted Monday.
And that sentence, in short, perhaps sums up why Trump would drop in to perhaps his friendliest state in the country. Alabama backed Trump with 63 percent of its vote in 2016 and is widely considered the most Republican state in the country.
The president is fighting for his political life as Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives continue with an impeachment inquiry.
Trump has also received thunderous boos at two public (and sports) events within the last 10 days. He was booed loudly, followed by isolated chants of "Lock him up" at Game 5 of the World Series in Washington.
Then over the weekend, he was booed again at a UFC event at New York's Madison Square Garden.
Meanwhile, Tuberville's tweet wasn't even the first one from a Senate candidate. U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne actually posted his tweet 18 minutes before Tuberville's.
"Excited to have President @realDonaldTrump back in Alabama!" Byrne tweeted. "Two of our favorite things: football and President Trump!"
Indeed, that’s sort of a subplot to Trump’s visit as Alabama Senate GOP candidates scurry to gain favor from the president that may push them over the top in the race. Is there a photo op waiting for a Senate candidate Saturday?
Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill, another GOP candidate for Senate, retweeted the same Sports Illustrated story as Tuberville and Byrne but without comment. Merrill also retweeted a suggestion from Cecil Hurt of The Tuscaloosa News that Trump would be the guest picker on ESPN’s College GameDay, which will originate from outside Bryant-Denny Stadium. Such speculation is also a part of the show, which brings a celebrity to its campus set each week to predict football games.
Another aspect to Trump’s visit could be his repeated efforts to encourage Louisiana voters to back GOP challenger Eddie Rispone in his bid to unseat John Bel Edwards, the state’s incumbent governor. Also adding to the intrigue is that LSU football coach Ed Orgeron is close friends with Edwards.
The visit will be Trump’s third to Alabama since becoming president in January 2017. He came to Huntsville in 2018 to hold a rally for former U.S. Sen. Luther Strange, who lost the GOP primary runoff days later to Roy Moore. And Trump came to Lee County in March to meet with survivors of a tornado outbreak that killed 23 people.
Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter, visited the Alabama Robotics Technology Park near Decatur last month to promote advanced manufacturing initiatives.
Alabama was also a special place for Trump’s presidential campaign. His first large stadium rally, in Mobile in 2015, pushed his efforts toward a momentum that never slowed. And he received his first Senatorial endorsement in March 2016 when Jeff Sessions announced his support of Trump at a rally in Madison.