Resistance takes many forms.
Sometimes it’s people taking to the streets in protest, as they did this weekend in Chicago and its suburbs. Sometimes it’s governors banding together to ensure their citizens have access to vaccines that have been thoroughly vetted, as the governors of California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii have.
And sometimes it’s ABC and ESPN not muting the full-throated chorus of boos that occurred when the president of the United States was shown at the U.S. Open on Sunday.
The U.S. Tennis Association’s request that broadcasters “refrain from showcasing any disruptions to the President’s attendance in any capacity’ was an embarrassment. This is not North Korea or Russia, and it is not ABC’s, ESPN’s or any other broadcaster’s job to stroke President Donald Trump’s ego. His vice president, Cabinet secretaries and Republican House leadership have that covered.
ABC and ESPN refused to kowtow. While they didn’t linger on Trump when he was shown during the national anthem ahead of the men’s final between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, they didn’t filter out the reaction to him, either. The jeers and catcalls, resounding in Arthur Ashe Stadium, were clearly audible.
ABC broadcast the match while ESPN livesteamed it on its app.
Refusing to bow to authoritarian demands is important, regardless of whether they come from the White House or a sports governing body. If Trump chooses to go to the U.S. Open, it’s fair game for ABC and ESPN to show the public’s reaction to it. Just as it was in 2000, when then-President Bill Clinton went.
To suggest otherwise was wholly inappropriate by the USTA and, worse, served to overshadow the anticipation for the latest meeting in what has become tennis’ next great rivalry. Instead of talking about Sinner and Alcaraz, the focus before the match was on the USTA’s clumsy attempt at censorship.
ABC and ESPN’s refusal to sugarcoat Trump’s reception was important for another reason, too.
Trump’s most diehard supporters often get their news from outlets — Fox News and X, to name two — that consider facts to be an inconvenience. These people are fed a steady diet of lies about Trump and his most horrific policies and ideas, giving them a worldview that does not reflect reality.
These people are told Chicago is the “murder capital of the world,” prices have come down and manufacturing jobs are coming back to the United States. This toxic stew of propaganda also serves to create the illusion that Trump is wildly popular, beloved by everyone except the nasty libs.
None of this is true, of course. Chicago’s homicide rate isn’t even in the top 20 of major U.S. cities and crime there has been falling. Prices remain stubbornly high, and retailers are starting to say they will have to hike prices even further because of Trump’s tariffs. The latest jobs report, issued on Sept. 5, showed a loss of 12,000 manufacturing jobs, continuing a decline for the year.
And poll after poll show more people disapprove of both Trump and his policies than approve of them.
Anything that can pierce Trump supporters’ bubble of misinformation is a good thing. Hearing Trump get jeered — loudly — for a couple of seconds during the U.S. Open broadcast might not cause the fever to break. But it could make his supporters question why. Especially if they’re already feeling disillusioned about their growing grocery bills or Trump’s refusal to release the Epstein files.
A seconds-long clip of a president being booed on a U.S. Open broadcast shouldn’t be a big deal. But so many guardrails have been erased by Trump and his minions, and obeying the USTA’s edict would have been one more. Good for ABC and ESPN for recognizing that.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.