The Kansas City Chief’s Super Bowl LVIII win on Sunday solidified the Missouri team’s dominant run, securing back-to-back Super Bowl victories.
The Chiefs won 25-22 in overtime against the San Francisco 49ers at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium on Sunday.
Following the Chiefs’ win, a congratulatory post from former President Donald Trump in which he appeared not to know where the Chiefs were from, attracted attention online.
Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
The Claim
A post on X, formerly Twitter, on February 12, 2024, by user Republicans against Trump/RpsAgainstTrump, viewed 334,000 times, included what appeared to be a tweet by Donald Trump that said ” Congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs on a great game, and a fantastic comeback, under immense pressure. You represented the Great State of Kansas and, in fact, the entire USA, so very well. Our Country is PROUD OF YOU!”
Republicans against Trump posted alongside “Donald Trump is an absolute moron.”
The Facts
Donald Trump’s tweet is genuine but is from the Chiefs’ Super Bowl win in 2020, also against the 49ers. The date of Trump’s tweet can be seen in Republicans Against Trump’s post.
However, the timing of the post—after the Chiefs’ win this Sunday—with no attempt to draw attention to that date, may not make that immediately clear.
Trump was infamously banned from Twitter in 2021 following the January 6 Capitol riot. Although his account was reinstated following Elon Musk’s takeover of the platform, Trump has only posted once since with a copy of his Fulton County mugshot in August 2023 alongside the subheading “ELECTION INTERFERENCE NEVER SURRENDER!”
Trump did reference the wrong state in his tweet from 2020, as the Kansas City Chiefs are a Missouri team.
To an outsider, the confusion might seem simple. There are two Kansas Citys—one in Missouri and one in Kansas, a seven-minute drive from each other over the state line—but the Chiefs are based on the west side of the Missouri River.
Located where the Kansas and Missouri rivers meet, Kansas City was incorporated into the state of Missouri in 1853, according to the Kansas City Public Library.
Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri, are two separately incorporated cities but together are part of the Kansas City Metropolitan area.
While the post was quickly deleted and replaced with the correct state, his gaffe was widely reported. The mistake led to the hashtag #KansasCityKansas trending, followed by #TrumpIsAnIdiot shortly after.
Trump was defended on Fox and Friends, the host of which, Steve Doocy, said: “Kansas City is in Kansas and it is also in Missouri…[It’s like when] people call them the New York Giants, but they’re in New Jersey.”
Others were less kind. Former Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, wrote: “It’s Missouri you stone cold idiot.” One of the responses to her tweet by former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele, said: “I got nothing for this one. #SimplyStupid“
In any case, the timing of Republicans Against Trump’s post could lead to the mistaken impression that Trump repeated the gaffe.
At the time of publication, Trump has not congratulated the Chiefs’ Sunday win. However, ahead of the game, Trump referenced Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce in a post about pop superstar Taylor Swift. Kelce and Swift’s relationship has dominated global headlines since they started dating in mid-2023.
Trump posted there was “no way” Taylor Swift should endorse Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential election, laying claim to Swift’s success via the Music Modernization Act, which he signed into law in 2018.
“I signed and was responsible for the Music Modernization Act for Taylor Swift and all other Musical Artists. Joe Biden didn’t do anything for Taylor, and never will,” he wrote on Truth Social. “There’s no way she could endorse Crooked Joe Biden, the worst and most corrupt President in the History of our Country, and be disloyal to the man who made her so much money.
“Besides that, I like her boyfriend, Travis, even though he may be a Liberal, and probably can’t stand me!”
The Ruling
Needs Context.
Trump did mistakenly congratulate the “Great State of Kansas” in a post about the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl win. The Chiefs are based in Kansas City, Missouri.
However, Trump’s post was from 2020, following the Chiefs’ previous win against the San Francisco 49ers.
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek’s Fact Check team
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.