Nancy Armour wrote an article in USA Today shaming Caitlin Clark and Patrick Mahomes for their political ambiguity.

She points to how Clark and Mahomes this month refused to endorse a specific presidential candidate, instead encouraging their followers to register and vote.

Armor say Their “bland responses are reminiscent of the activism of athletes from the Michael Jordan era.”

Jordan, of course, said, “Republicans buy sneakers, too” — an acknowledgement that politicizing any form of entertainment inherently displeases one side of the fan base.

Armour ultimately accused Clark and Mahomes of moral cowardice.

“Elite athletes are born with unique physical gifts and a unique dedication. Moral courage is something they have to find for themselves, and this week was a reminder that not many people do,” she concluded.

Which athletes does Armour consider morally courageous? She names LeBron James and Megan Rapinoe as names.

“Not every athlete can be LeBron James or Megan Rapinoe,” Armour laments.

“The involvement of athletes in politics is taken for granted these days. James appeared alongside Hillary Clinton in 2016 and helped found a group dedicated to protecting voting rights for black Americans four years ago. Rapinoe was an early supporter of Joe Biden and even jokingly offered to be his running mate,” she adds.

By Armour’s definition, Tom Brady is “courageous.” In 2021, however, she called on her fellow journalists to criticize Brady for his past support of Trump.

“Tom Brady has been given an undeserved free pass for his past support of Donald Trump,” Armour said. wrote at that time.

Hmmm.

Let’s recap:

Nancy Armour called Clark and Mahomes ‘moral cowards’ for not support a presidential candidate. She praised LeBron for supporting Hillary and Rapinoe for supporting Biden. She called for widespread condemnation of Brady for once supporting Trump.

Do you have all that?

In other words, Armour doesn’t want athletes to use their platform to support the candidate of their choice. Instead, she’s demanding that they support a specific candidate — as in, the Democratic candidate on the ticket.

It must also be funny that Armour calls it a courageous when athletes support a Democrat. It’s the opposite.

Athletes, like celebrities, are constantly pressured by the press and their peers to support the Democratic Party. For example, several Hollywood trade publications called out Taylor Swift for not endorsing Kamala Harris before she did so earlier this month.

In contrast, the ladies are on The view argued that Patrick Mahomes’ wife Brittany is racist and stupid for liking a positive post about Trump.

“It just seems to me that because she’s in an interracial marriage, she should have known that it’s problematic to support a racist. Her kids are biracial and her family is one of those families that couldn’t have lived in one of Donald Trump’s buildings in the ’70s,” Sunny Hostin said this week. “It just seems to me that maybe she’s just not that politically savvy or she’s just not read up on it,” said Hostin, the most clueless of the ladies on set.

As Armour’s article further proves, it is safer for public figures to support a Democrat than to support no one at all. Race lady Jemele Hill published a similar column last weekin which he questions black athletes for no longer supporting Kamala Harris.

By definition, moral courage requires actions and/or statements of consequence. For athletes, that usually means comments that jeopardize their sponsorship deals, cool-kid status, and profits.

Muhammad Ali risked all that by protesting the Vietnam War. So did Harrison Butker by giving a faith-based speech earlier this year. Athletes risk none of that by endorsing Kamala Harris.

They should support the Democrats.

Nick Kayal is a top-rated radio host in Kansas City. He responded to Armour’s article on Friday.

“If you’re a woke athlete who supports a Democrat, you’ve taken a stand. If you’re the Goat and support Trump, the left will try to cancel you,” Kayal posted on X. “@nrarmour is a hypocrite and exactly the type of sports media member who made me stop reading @USATODAY and their garbage.”

He’s right – about all that.

Furthermore, athletes do not owe the country political approval. No one outside of politics does. Voting is a personal decision. It is up to each individual to decide whether to make their beliefs public.

Caitlin Clark and Patrick Mahomes don’t want that. Maybe they don’t think they’re educated enough to give advice on voting. Maybe they don’t want to ignore half of their fan base, whatever half that is.

Whatever the reason, Clark and Mahomes have the right to talk or not talk about whatever they want.

Simply put, Nancy Armour is trying to use the USA Today platform to intimidate athletes into supporting her favorite candidate. It is the act of a psychotic bully.

Her message reads like a threat: Support Kamala Harris or we will come after you.

Sadly, we expect some athletes will cave in and support Harris, whether they support her or not.