The first thing to know about the Donald Trump dance craze is that it’s not really a craze. (Not yet, at least.) Nor, to be honest, is it a dance.
What is certain, however, is that the president-elect’s signature shimmy is en vogue with all manner of professional athletes, imitated by at least five NFL players Sunday, as well as by Jon Jones, the heavyweight champion of the UFC, who seemingly helped spread the fad Saturday night after knocking out Stipe Miocic in the third round.
Jones celebrated by rocking from hip to hip and pumping his fists at waist level — both hallmarks of Trump’s dancing — before pointing his finger at Trump, who was sitting ringside at the fight in New York. Trump, never one to pass up a compliment, beamed in the moment and soon reposted Jones’ performance on his Truth Social account.
Trump’s embrace of events like UFC fights and football games — both brimming with machismo — has been endlessly documented, and was viewed during the campaign as part of a broader effort to appeal to young men.
The public support of Trump’s moves from prominent athletes came after he had trailed his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, in terms of big-name celebrity endorsements. His resounding victory Nov. 5, however, has resulted in an increasing trickle of congratulations from famous people — a diverse cohort including the likes of Caitlyn Jenner and Sylvester Stallone. Jones and the NFL players expanded that circle even more.
For the unacquainted, Trump’s gyrations are a far cry from the complexities of the moonwalk, the Macarena or the Electric Slide. Both simple and strangely hypnotic, Trump’s wiggle incorporates the kind of stiff swivel often employed by arrhythmic wedding guests or awkward, one-too-many conventioneers. In the bent elbows and fist pumps, there’s a certain slowed-down homage to Frank the Tank — Will Ferrell’s boozy character in the 2003 movie “Old School” — while the corresponding hip action makes it a dance that is simultaneously wrong for most music, and perhaps barely passable for all.
Sunday saw more variations emerging, from NFL players like Brock Bowers, a tight end for the Las Vegas Raiders, who did a quick end zone dance with the Trumpian boogie, something he said was inspired by Jones. “I saw it and thought it was cool,” Bowers told reporters. Several other players performed similar celebrations in other games.
Of course, in a hyperpartisan and often conspiracy-minded political environment, Bowers’ comments — and the fact that the Raiders ended his press availability after a question about them — soon spun into speculation that the NFL was avoiding any sort of an endorsement, through dance or otherwise. The Associated Press reported that Bowers’ comments were not included in the team’s postgame videos or in transcripts provided by the team.
A request for comment from the Raiders was not immediately returned.
Some social media users objected strongly to the idea that the athletes had done anything wrong, comparing the situation to overtly political acts like the NFL showing support for Black Lives Matter.
Trump’s physical enjoyment of music has been a staple of his campaigns for years, including at an October town hall where a pair of medical emergencies in the crowd led to lengthy delays, during which the Republican candidate bobbed his head to the Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.,” one of his favorite tunes, and listened to a version of “Ave Maria,” which is a tough song for anyone to dance to.
While Trump is the dance’s originator, various sources credit another NFL player — Nick Bosa, a defensive star with the San Francisco 49ers — for its broader popularization, after he did Trump’s dance on Nov. 10 in the wake of a sack. A day before, Bosa had been fined $11,255 by the league for violating a rule by wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat at a postgame, preelection television interview.
Of his fine, Bosa said, “It was well worth it.”
As for whether any rules were broken this weekend, the league said Monday that there was “no issue with celebratory dance such as what took place yesterday or the previous week with the 49ers on November 10.” The penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, it added, only covers celebrations that are excessively long, violent or “sexually suggestive or offensive.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
© 2024 The New York Times Company