Fox Video Featuring Donald Trump Angers United States Soccer Fans

Fox Sports 1’s marketing of Saturday’s U.S.A. vs. Mexico Concacaf playoff game fired up American fans in an unintended way Friday with a promotional commercial using comments made by Donald J. Trump on the presidential campaign trail as a way to lead cheers for the United States national team.

The video was promoted as a response to an earlier TV Azteca ad that used Trump’s words as a way to promote Mexico in the game. But Fox’s choice of Trump to promote the United States team seemed, at best, questionable. He has built his campaign for president around anti-immigration positions, especially those from Mexico, and has described Mexicans who have entered the United States illegally as rapists and criminals.

In the video, interspersed with clips of the United States and Mexican teams in action, Trump is seen saying, “Our country has tremendous people, tremendous potential,” “these are the best and the finest,” and “bigger, better and stronger, and we will make American great again.” He is also quoted saying, “I love the Mexican people,” and “they have amazing spirit.”

Fox’s use of Trump to promote the match prompted a quick and mostly negative response on Twitter, with people objecting not only to Trump but to the politicizing of the match. The current United States team includes several Mexican-American players, and immigrants have played a role in its success throughout its history.

The main American fan group, the American Outlaws, tweeted a one-word response to the video almost immediately: No. But others soon piled on.

Fox declined to comment on the video, and U.S. Soccer made no statements about it.

Multiple people familiar with the video, however, said U.S. Soccer had no input into its content, and the federation did nothing to promote it. U.S. Soccer, which regularly works with its television partners to amplify each side’s advertising campaigns, did not link to the Trump video from any of its social media accounts.

The United States will face Mexico on Saturday night at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. The match is a one-game playoff to select the country that will represent Concacaf, the regional confederation that includes North and Central American and the Caribbean, in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia. That tournament is considered an important dress rehearsal for the 2018 World Cup.