{"id":4699,"date":"2026-08-14T04:13:51","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T04:13:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4699"},"modified":"2026-08-14T04:13:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T04:13:51","slug":"trump-gets-his-maga-style-teen-hunger-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4699","title":{"rendered":"Trump gets his MAGA-style teen ‘Hunger Games’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Atlantic reports President Donald Trump\u2019s personally directed sports events always seem to offer a \u201cvery particular version of America.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Infantile\u2019 Trump just proved how he returns a favor<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cBut of all of these festivities, the Patriot Games in Ohio this week might have been the oddest,\u201d wrote Matt Viser. <\/p>\n

Organizers invited 120 teens from across the country, and for three days, they competed in gym-class staples such as ball tosses, long jumps, tug-of-war, dodgeball, and a jazzed-up version of basketball that didn\u2019t appear to contain a lot of high jumping. <\/p>\n

\u201cMore than anything, it was a reality-television-style snapshot of the America that Trump most wants to see,\u201d said Viser. \u201cThe contestants were overwhelmingly white, in a country where roughly half of children are not, and many spoke openly of their Christian faith or their affection for this particular president.\u201d<\/p>\n

Multiple boys wore a cross necklace, said Viser, and several of the girls had a cross painted on their body. <\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to say, it\u2019s the glory for God. Thank you, Lord, for this opportunity,\u201d said Max Biondolillo of Florida, after finishing the obstacle course. <\/p>\n

\u201cThank you, Jesus. That\u2019s all I can say. Thank you, Jesus,\u201d Seylah Brown, representing North Carolina, said after completing a sports circuit.<\/p>\n

Read more Angry Trump voters are giving the GOP a headache in deep red Iowa: CNN<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe biographies suggested that the organizers might have struggled with recruitment in some deep-blue jurisdictions,\u201d said Viser. \u201cThe boy representing Puerto Rico has a southern accent and resides in Texas. Elsie Bruckart was the contestant for Vermont, but her hometown was listed as Bellbrook, Ohio. Her cousin Rebekah Roberts competed for Maine, but her hometown was Cornish, New Hampshire. Bobbi Vickers was representing Massachusetts, but she is from California. <\/p>\n

\u201cI get a bunch of questions, like Why are you representing Massachusetts and not your home state?<\/em>\u201d Vickers told CNN. \u201cBut I think it\u2019s really cool, because a lot of my family is from there and my favorite basketball team is actually the Boston Celtics.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFreedom 250 did not respond to questions about why certain states were represented by competitors living in other states, or why there was such a lack of diversity among the contestants,\u201d said Viser.<\/p>\n

Viser reported that people familiar with the recruitment process told him that the athletes were selected through applications that required submissions of a personal-essay, as well as a video submission, so recruiters could have a good look at what they\u2019re getting. ESPN added that they had nothing to do with the process. They\u2019re not even paying for the rights to carry it.<\/p>\n

To Viser it soon became clear that the whole thing, \u201clike so many others this president has overseen, was actually all about Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was his vision of the Hunger Games, MAGA style. He was front and center, watching the grand finale unfold and eyeing golden trophies he could present,\u201d Viser said.<\/p>\n

Read more Dana Bash traps MAGA lawmaker in a brutal showdown over alleged wife-beater<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump\u2019s personally directed sports events always seem to offer a \u201cvery particular version of America.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump gets his MAGA-style teen 'Hunger Games' - Next Address America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4699\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump gets his MAGA-style teen 'Hunger Games' - Next Address America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Donald Trump\u2019s personally directed sports events always seem to offer a \u201cvery particular version of America.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4699\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next Address America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-14T04:13:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=4699#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=4699\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3\"},\"headline\":\"Trump gets his MAGA-style teen ‘Hunger Games’\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-14T04:13:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=4699\"},\"wordCount\":513,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=4699#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/5c0ef362acaf321fb0ae900c7b946df6.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=4699#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=4699\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=4699\",\"name\":\"Trump gets his MAGA-style teen 'Hunger Games' - 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