Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso (R), who watched the Steelers-Jets game with former President Trump at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh Sunday night, said the energy Trump brought to the stadium helped fuel the Steelers’ comeback victory over the visiting New York Jets.
“The Steelers came from behind. They scored maybe 31-some unanswered points. They were down quite a bit and the fans were worried. Then Trump showed up and … the team rallied, people were chanting ‘USA, USA,’ then the next thing you know the Steelers win by a lot,” Barrasso told The Hill.
The Jets took a 15-6 lead with just over five minutes left in the second quarter before the Steelers scored a touchdown right before halftime to narrow the game to 15-13.
The Steelers accounted for all the scoring in the second half — 24 points — to rack up 31 unanswered points and win the game by a lobsided final score of 37 to 15.
Trump’s attendance appeared to rally the Steelers’ home crowd, clad mostly in black. Fans serenaded the former president with chants of “USA, USA, USA” while Trump waved and Barrasso, standing at his side, flashed a thumbs up.
Barrasso said Trump “loved the whole day” in Pennsylvania and was still exuberant hours later about his quick shift at the McDonald’s drive-thru window in Feasterville, Pennsylvania, earlier in the day.
“He loved it, just loved it,” Barrasso said. “We talked about elections. … We talked about each of these battleground states. He’s doing very well in them and Republicans are doing very well in them.
“We talked about Montana because it’s the northern border of Wyoming. We’re all feeling very optimistic about our opportunities in Montana,” he added.
Barrasso, the Senate Republican Conference chairman, said “he was completely, fully energized last night.”
“It was a good night to be at the game with him. We talked about football. We talked his day at McDonald’s and we talked about the elections across the board and his campaign in the final 15 [days,]” he said. “He’s not slowing down. He’s going to continue doing events in each of the battleground states.
The GOP senator said Trump will have the campaign resources he needs to match Harris, despite reporting by The New York Times that he has privately complained about GOP donors not doing enough to help him.
“Both campaigns will be fully funded all the way until the end,” he said.
The biggest super PAC in the country, Future Forward, a Democratic group allied with Vice President Harris, is spending $700 million to help her win the election.