Vice President JD Vance is “worried” that Travis Kelce’s engagement to Taylor Swift could tilt the NFL season in favor of the Kansas City Chiefs.
In a new interview with USA Today, the former Ohio senator voiced his concerns, saying: “I will say as a football fan — as a Cincinnati Bengals fan — I hope that the NFL does not put a thumb on the scale for the Kansas City Chiefs just because Travis Kelce is now getting married to maybe the most famous woman in the world.
“You guys can’t sort of have this, I’m worried they’re going to have a Super Bowl wedding thing this season,” Vance added. “Can’t do it. The Kansas City Chiefs have to follow the same rules as everybody else.
“So if we see the refs being particularly friendly to Kansas City Chiefs players, then I think all football fans should be willing to push back on the NFL and say, look, you guys got to be fair.”
Still, the Republican politician congratulated the happy couple, who on Tuesday announced they were getting married in a joint Instagram post.
“Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married,” the caption read, alongside a series of pictures showing the Chiefs tight end on one knee under an arch of roses in the center of a garden.
“When I see two people who are in love getting married, I just wish them the best, and I congratulate them,” Vance said. “And I hope they have a very long, healthy and happy life together.”
He further stressed that politicians should “focus on politics,” and celebrities should “focus on whatever it is that made them famous.”
Vance’s comments come after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell slammed “ridiculous” conspiracy theories that officials have in any way made calls in favor of the Chiefs, who’ve gone on to win three Super Bowls in the last five years.
“That’s a ridiculous theory,” Goodell said Monday at his annual pre-Super Bowl news conference, “for anyone who might take it seriously.”
In 2020, the Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes led his team to a Super Bowl victory, the franchise’s first in 50 years. He went on to guide them to two more championships in 2023 and 2024.
Swift and Kelce didn’t begin dating until late 2023; however, their high-profile relationship fueled unfounded claims that the NFL had “rigged” the Chiefs’ 2024 Super Bowl win to leverage Swift’s attendance as an endorsement of former President Joe Biden.
While the “Cruel Summer” sing-songwriter again cheered on the champions at the 2025 Super Bowl this February, they ended up losing to the Philadelphia Eagles 22-40.
