It is fitting that retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre campaigned on Wednesday night in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with former President Donald Trump.
Trump’s supporters undoubtedly were pleased to have the Green Bay Packers legend on hand given his iconic status in the battleground state despite stints with the New York Jets and division rival Minnesota Vikings.
Democrats certainly liked the opportunity to tie Trump to Favre’s off-the-field scandals, which have continued into the quarterback’s retirement and can be used to reinforce certain standard anti-Trump attack lines.
But there are similarities between Trump and Favre beyond being polarizing figures in their respective fields.
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Trump is in many ways the Brett Favre of American politics.
The joke about talented but interception-prone quarterbacks is that they always keep both teams in the game. Favre threw 336 interceptions during his professional career, the most of any NFL player, while also ranking fourth in passing touchdowns at 508. The highest-ranking active quarterback in career touchdowns is Aaron Rodgers, Favre’s successor in Green Bay and the current New York Jets signal caller.
Trump’s admirers like to present him as the ultimate winner in politics, the electoral equivalent of Tom Brady or Patrick Mahomes. His detractors say he is the biggest loser, and they don’t mean the rival reality TV franchise. In NFL terms, they consider him a Ryan Leaf-level bust.
But Trump is currently a leading motivator for Republicans to turn out and vote next Tuesday. He is playing the same role for the Democrats.
While Trump sometimes has celebrities at his rallies and events, he is typically the main draw. Trump is also at the center of Vice President Kamala Harris’s closing argument as the campaign enters the fourth quarter.
Trump is currently running ahead of virtually every Republican Senate candidate except Larry Hogan in Maryland, including some who are favored to win. If he performs well in the battleground states, the GOP Senate majority will be larger.
The former president played a role in fumbling away the Senate in the aftermath of the 2020 elections, in which a pair of Georgia Senate runoffs went to the Democrats as his voter fraud claims helped depress Republican turnout. He did the same with the House two years earlier. His 2022 Senate endorsees underperformed in the midterm elections. Harris’s football coach running mate, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), might say Trump runs a “mean pick six.”
At the same time, Trump helped Republicans hold the Senate in 2018 and his House losses were less than Bill Clinton‘s or Barack Obama‘s. This year, Republicans are counting on the fact that he is on the ballot to avoid the disappointments of the failed red wave two years ago.
Trump bottomed out faster than George W. Bush and never came close to his highs. But he also has steered clear of Bush’s lows. Eight years of Trump as titular head of the party has left Republicans on the cusp of unified control of the federal government — or being shut out completely. Bush left office with job approval ratings below 30% and Democrats holding three-fifths majorities in both houses of Congress, briefly including filibuster-proof control of the Senate.
The former president shares Favre’s gunslinger mentality. He can pull off huge events no conventional politician would dare to attempt. But as was the case with his big rally at Madison Square Garden, that’s no guarantee the resulting headlines will be favorable.
Thrilling victories, entertaining displays, and mistake-ridden defeats define both men’s careers.
Favre, now 55 and recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, was effective in his Trump rally debut. He took aim at President Joe Biden’s insulting remarks about Trump supporters, saying, “I can assure you we’re not garbage.” He mentioned the fentanyl crisis and contrasted Trump’s first term with the Biden-Harris record.
“We’ve already had President Trump once,” Favre said. “We’ve already seen Kamala in action. We can compare and we know which is better. … So it’s time to bench Kamala and put in the star quarterback, Donald Trump.”
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Wisconsin is one of three Rust Belt states where the polls are tight and could decide this election. Trump won there in 2016 and lost in 2020.
Favre won one Super Bowl and then lost the second. Trump’s record in presidential elections is the same, but he has a chance to notch another. We’re nearing the two-minute warning.