In 1986, the former Buffalo Bills quarterback and future Republican vice-presidential nominee Jack Kemp spoke on the floor of the US House of Representatives and said a silly thing. “Football,” he said, referring to the gridiron variety, “is democratic capitalism, whereas soccer is a European socialist sport.”
Kemp was trying, apparently, to underpin his opposition to the US potentially hosting the 1994 Fifa World Cup. Later on, by which time his comments had been tucked away into the filing cabinet of infamy, he contended that he was only kidding. Kemp attended said World Cup himself and admitted that half his grandchildren were soccer players. Sure. Fine.
