Podcast listeners might recall that, over the past year, I’ve submitted to Ryan Glasspiegel that the sports libs are back, baby. They gave up on Bluesky, came back to Twitter/X, and reasserted their zeitgeist influence. That was more an observation about sports media and social media behavior than a statement about American electoral sentiment, but these dynamics are obviously connected to a degree. When Trump wins in 2024 and his approval rating is good, NFL players are doing the Trump dance. After Trump’s popularity tanks and his party suffers a historic midterm wipeout, you see the Chicago Bears star quarterback reveling in the blue wave.
The point is that election results offer social proof to people that informs how they publicly act. Shared sentiments were already shifting prior to the formal outcome, but the outcome itself presents a new dynamic. Charlotte Wilder of the Sports Gossip Show said in reaction to November 4th:
It’s pretty fascinating how quickly some people can grow a spine and tell the truth and find a moral compass once it’s convenient and cool again, just something to think about!!!
I don’t think Wilder, a vocal lefty who podcasts for The Athletic, is onto nothing here. I wouldn’t say it the way she said it. I don’t even know which people she’s referring to. But the statement captures something real. Once a position is codified as popular, it informs public display of perspectives that theoretically are about deeper concerns than popularity. Back when X was Twitter, the sports media space, including people with big-time mainstream jobs, was fairly publicly blue partisan. Then Trump won, a lot of formerly vocal people at mainstream outlets scaled back the politics. Now? Well, it’s looking more like 2020 than 2024, but with some key differences.