Christian Pulisic, who scored the first goal for the U.S. men's football team during their CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal game against Jamaica on Monday, became the most recent well-known athlete to mimic Donald Trump's famous campaign-trail dance.
Weston McKennie, the player for Juventus, took up the ball off the right flank and split the defense to give Pulisic a pass at the fringe of the penalty box, setting up the goal. During the 13th minute, Pulisic doubled USMNT's advantage on aggregate with a single touch that sent the ball towards the net.
In celebration of his goal, the 26-year-old former Chelsea player threw one arm in the air and executed the dance that Trump popularized during his reelection campaign. The next day, after gaining sufficient electoral votes and the popular vote, Trump defeated Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
Additional goals in the game made the outcome as clear as possible. It was 3-0 in the evening and 4-0 overall following Ricardo Pepi's goal in the 42nd minute and Pulisic's second goal at the 33rd minute. In the first leg of the quarterfinal, which took place at Kingston's National Stadium Independence Park, Pepi was also the only scorer.
Even though Demarai Gray scored twice for Jamaica, the United States won the match easily on aggregate, ending the match 4-2. However, Pulisic's celebration was one of the main topics of conversation.
Christian Pulisic just did the Trump dance after scoring a goal 😭 pic.twitter.com/N1mlGPs9o5
— FearBuck (@FearedBuck) November 19, 2024
Other Donald Trump celebrations in sports this year
It is the most recent of several Trump-inspired festivities that American sportsmen have been displaying at crucial points in recent games. The Las Vegas Raiders' tight end Brock Bowers pulled the team back into the game versus the Miami Dolphins on Sunday after catching a 23-yard touchdown throw from Gardner Minshew during the third quarter.
Bowers celebrated by imitating Trump's famous dance near the end zone. Bowers told Safid Deen of USA Today that the UFC bout he had witnessed the night before served as his inspiration.