Donald Trump faced a wave of mockery on social media after the United States men's national soccer team was eliminated from the World Cup with a 4-1 defeat to Belgium in the Round of 16 on Monday. Critics revived one of Trump's most infamous posts from the aftermath of the 2020 election, remixing his Jan. 6, 2021 attack on then-Vice President Mike Pence.
Trump's Original Post Reimagined
On the day of the Capitol riot, after Pence certified Joe Biden's victory, Trump wrote: “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution.” Social media users reworked that line to mock Trump's intervention with FIFA, which lifted U.S. striker Folarin Balogun's red-card suspension ahead of the match—but to no avail.
Users posted variations such as “The United States can still win if Mike Pence finds the courage” and “The US can still win the World Cup if @realDonaldTrump has the courage.” Other tweets included “US can still win this game if Mike Pence has the courage” and “The U.S. could still beat Belgium if Mike Pence has the courage to act.”
Widespread Mockery
The trend spread widely, with users like Spencer Hakimian, Aaron Rupar, and Hemant Mehta joining in. Even FIFA President Gianni Infantino was invoked: “The US can still advance to the quarterfinals if Gianni Infantino has the courage.” The original post by Trump had been a key moment in the Jan. 6 narrative, and its repurposing highlighted the perceived irony of Trump's influence on the game.
Despite Trump's intervention, the U.S. team could not overcome Belgium's strong performance. The defeat ended America's World Cup run, prompting the online backlash against the former president.
