Patrick Mahomes made stance on US election clear as wife Brittany and Travis Kelce hit headlines

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Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is refusing to give his backing to either candidate in the upcoming U.S. presidential election after his wife Brittany was lambasted for liking a Donald Trump post while Travis Kelce had hoped to attend this week’s Democratic National Convention.

On Friday, Brittany faced a tsunami of criticism online after appearing to like an Instagram post from former President and current Republican nominee Trump outlining his policy positions. She faced instant backlash from fans and was forced to call out “deep-rooted issues” of outspoken fans in a post of her own.

Meanwhile, according to CBS, Mahomes’ Chiefs teammate Kelce reached out to Kamala Harris’ campaign about attending the DNC earlier this week after she was announced to be the replacement for President Joe Biden. However, Kelce was in attendance as the Chiefs were in preseason action against the Chicago Bears on Thursday.

As for Mahomes, he has addressed social and political issues in the past. The 28-year-old joined LeBron James’ More Than a Vote campaign to help increase African American voter turnout in the 2020 election, although he did not publicly endorse a candidate four years ago – and he is keeping the same energy this time around.

“I don’t want to pressure anyone to vote for a certain president,” Mahomes said in an interview with TIME magazine published on Tuesday. “I want people to use their voice, whoever they believe in. I want them to do the research.”

Mahomes is not the only public figure to decline to endorse a candidate for 2024. Actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson also declared he will not be endorsing anyone for this year’s election after previously doing so in 2020.

TIME interviewed Mahomes as part of its famous 100 Most Influential People series for 2024. The quarterback led his team to victory against the San Francisco 49ers in this year’s Super Bowl, also earning the game’s Most Valuable Player award for the third time.

Ahead of Super Bowl LVIII, right-wing conspiracy theorists insisted the NFL was going to rig the game in favor of the Chiefs so the enduring image of the 2023 season would be Taylor Swift and boyfriend Travis Kelce celebrating in confetti. This was supposed to create a platform so Swift, a renowned liberal, could endorse then-democratic nominee Biden ahead of the election.

Once the Chiefs won, President Biden trolled such speculation by posting a meme that showed laser beams blasting out of his eyes. The caption read: “Just like we drew it up.”

Swift has been outspoken in recent years on a handful of political issues, including supporting LGBTQ+ rights, reproductive rights, and gun safety reform. She endorsed the Biden-Harris ticket in 2020 and previously suggested she could have done more to criticize Trump in 2016.