A huge Texas-Tennessee matchup had a little extra pageantry.
Page A2From§Eachthe matinee edition — 26 September 2026
GOP throws Trump a flyover and a roaring crowd, then deletes his name from a Tennessee slogan.
As it ran on the front
Two weeks before Saturday, Ted Cruz brought the Protect College Sports Act to ESPN's "College GameDay" and got a rowdy crowd for his trouble, per the Washington Examiner. Two days after that, the Examiner reported Cruz's fix: get Trump to sign the bill live on GameDay once the Senate passes it, borrow a crowd Cruz couldn't hold himself. By September 18 the Nation had a headline reading "We Need to Protect College Sports From Ted Cruz." The bill needed a bigger draw than a senator. Saturday, it got one.
Before he ever boarded Air Force One for the trip, per the Washington Examiner, a reporter asked Trump if he only wanted friendly outlets around him; he said he wanted real news, not fake news, like you. Neyland Stadium had already opened its gates early and cut beer to half price to get Tennessee fans seated before the No. 1 Longhorns and No. 14 Volunteers kicked off, the New York Post reported. The Examiner's separate reporting has the Senate taking up the bill Monday — the furthest a college sports bill has gotten in Congress. None of Saturday was incidental to that vote. It was the pitch for it.…
…(cont) Here's the same week's other receipt. On September 23, also per the Examiner, former Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher changed his campaign slogan to drop its reference to Trump. Hatcher beat incumbent Rep. Andy Ogles in August's primary while running as a "Pro-Trump" candidate — even though Ogles, not Hatcher, held Trump's actual endorsement that primary. Trump backed Hatcher anyway once Hatcher had already won.
Line that up. One relationship gets a flyover, a discounted beer line, and gates opened early to hold a crowd for him, in service of a bill headed for a Senate vote it's never gotten this close to before. The other relationship, in the same state, in the same week, is being quietly edited out of a slogan by the candidate who owes him the seat. The stadium can still fill on command. The ballot, evidently, is the part they're not sure will hold.
“They flew a plane over a packed stadium and cut beer prices to seat the crowd early, all to sell a bill to the Senate — and in the same state, same week, the guy they just got elected can't keep "Pro-Trump" on his own slogan. That's not loyalty, that's a lease: you rent the crowd when it's useful and take the name off the sign before the ballot prints. He's still the biggest draw this bill has ever had, and the vote's Monday.”
“Look, updating a slogan isn't erasing the guy, it's message discipline — campaigns tighten language all the time, ask any consultant. And the fake-news line? He's given that answer a thousand times, it's not even news anymore, it's just Saturday. Did I just say a presidential media strategy is "not news"? That's not the point I meant to make.”
Earlier in this story
- Neyland cuts beer 50 percent to seat the crowd before the president's closing pitch for Monday's sports bill By Sal · the noon edition, 26 September 2026
The receipts
Neyland Stadium opened its gates early with 50% off beer as Tennessee Vols fans gear up for the No. 1 Texas SEC showdown and Trump's arrival.
EXCLUSIVE — Former Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher has changed his campaign slogan to remove a reference to President Donald Trump. Hatcher, who ousted incumbent Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) in Tennessee’s August primary, ran as a “Pro-Trump”
President Trump received an enthusiastic welcome while attending a college football game in Tennessee on Saturday.
The Southeastern Conference matchup between the No. 1 Longhorns and No. 14 Volunteers in Knoxville is already one of the biggest games in the country this weekend.
Trump arrived in Knoxville to a roaring Neyland Stadium crowd as the new-look Air Force One flew over ahead of the No. 14 Vols vs. No.
President Donald Trump fired back at a reporter Saturday before boarding Air Force One for the University of Tennessee vs. the University of Texas college football game. “I want real news, not fake news, like you,”
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.