When it comes to going to America’s Super Bowl, even the cheapest of nosebleed tickets will cost you an arm and a leg these days.
While many will have paid hundreds, if not thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars to see Kendrick’s halftime show and the end to the Chiefs dynasty by the Eagles, not many will have paid more than Donald Trump.
It is estimated that the President of the United States spent between $15 million and $20 million due to the cost of secret service, and air travel and motorcade, as well as local law enforcement and improvements to stadium security.
Despite becoming the first sitting President to attend the Super Bowl, Trump ended up leaving the event early according to a POTUS flight tracker.
It had him departing around 8pm local time, around about the time Lamar performed the halftime show.
This has had people online speculating as to the reasons behind it.
Theory one – Trump is a Chiefs supporter
One pervasive theory on Twitter surrounded the idea that Trump was unhappy due to the fact that the Kansas City Chiefs were being trounced by the Philadelphia Eagles.
Though Trump has never revealed which team he supports he was more positive in his discussion of the Chiefs, noting that the wife of quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Brittany Mahomes, is rumoured to be a Trump fan.
Star tight-end Travis Kelce also revealed that it was ‘an honour’ to play in front of any president when asked about Trump’s attendance.
This led one fan to post a picture of Kelce online and say: “Imagine saying ‘it’s an honor’ for Trump to watch you play at the Super Bowl only for him to leave early cause y’all was getting beat so bad. LOOOOSSEEERRRRRR.”
The Chiefs ended up failing in their attempt to win a third successive Super Bowl, losing 40-22.
Theory 2 – Trump was offended by Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance
Though many focused on Lamar’s shots fired at fellow rapper Drake, many noticed elements of his performance which were interpreted as clear protests against Trump.
In particular, fans noticed the changed phrase of ‘The revolution is about to be televised, you picked the right time but the wrong guy’ at the top of his performance.
One fan tweeted: “Kendrick Lamar dissed Trump and protested the United States in front of him and Trump got scared and left the Super Bowl early. It just doesn’t get any better than that.”
Another said: “Kendrick knew Trump was in attendance and he still did that. Epic.”
Lamar also made a reference to ‘forty acres and a mule’, a promise made to freed slaves by a Union General, and had Samuel L. Jackson appear as ‘Uncle Sam’.
Theory 3 – It was just a matter of logistics
One fan responded to those pointing out that he was already on Air Force One before the match finished and said: “Not just Trump. All US Presidents leave major events like this early.
“Imagine the security nightmare for Secret Service if he stayed until the end and left at the same time as everyone else. Doing the crowd a favor by leaving early due to road closures for motorcade to pass.”