The words were barely out of Clay Matthews’ mouth before the gifs started rolling in. Some saw Matthews’ choice to invoke Trump as legendary, others, as a cringey way to introduce the 2025 NFL Draft.

Nick Kayal, host of the conservative podcast, “Kayal and Company,” posted on X, “ESPN just s— their pants and the crowd loved it!”

Viewers elsewhere offered a very different take.

One X user shared the classic gif of LeBron James abruptly leaving a press conference with his luxury handbag to go alongside the caption, “Clay Matthews: ‘I just spoke with Donald Trump.'” Others posted a gif of Tim Gunn, of “Project Runway” fame, making an ick face under the caption, “First of all eww …”

Another user shared the video of Sen. Mitch McConnell frozen at a press conference, the caption reading, “Roger Goodell seeing Clay Matthews mention Donald Trump live unscripted at the NFL Draft.” Goodell is the commissioner of the NFL.

Many responded by simply changing the channel.

Over on the YouTube channel, The Fan Le Batard Show made a parody of Matthews’ introduction. As Matthews tells the crowd, “I just got off the phone with President Donald Trump. He asked me to pass a message along to all 32 NFL franchises. So let me tell you what it reads here,” it cuts to a person brandished in Tennessee Oilers merch saying, “The tariffs are back on! Just kidding,” before returning to Matthews shouting, “The Bears still suck!”

Others simply had a question: Is the former Packers linebacker MAGA?

Whether the NFL draft is the appropriate place to bring up politics, Matthews’ boisterous opening comes at a time when Trump’s approval rating has plummeted as he approaches his first 100 days in office. Following his sweeping new tariffs announcement in April, Pew Research Center noted his approval rating has dropped seven percentage points since February, with just 40% of Americans approving of his actions.