Harger: Why was the U.S. Open so afraid of Trump getting booed?
Sep 8, 2025, 6:21 AM | Updated: 2:28 pm
Quick question: Since when is booing too dangerous for television? Because at yesterday’s U.S. Open, it sure seemed that way.
According to tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg, the U.S. Tennis Association sent broadcasters an email before the match instructing them to “refrain from showcasing any disruptions or reactions” to President Trump’s attendance. And sure enough, the cameras found him during the national anthem, conveniently the loudest moment, when any boos would be drowned out.
This is New York. Where if you’re NOT getting booed, you’re probably not that important. They booed Aaron Judge last year during a strikeout streak. AARON JUDGE. The unanimous AL MVP of 2024.
And when the crowd yesterday did what New Yorkers do — some booing and some cheering — ABC and ESPN barely acknowledged it. The reaction was mixed, exactly what you’d expect from thousands of Americans. But apparently, even that was too risky to show.
Here’s the thing about free speech: it means hearing things you don’t want to hear. For example, college students should listen to conservative speakers. That annoying street preacher with a megaphone outside T-Mobile Park has a right to do his thing, ugh, and yes, presidents, all presidents, need to hear it when crowds don’t like them.
But the U.S. Open organizers were so afraid of offending this president, so worried about potential fallout from his followers, they preemptively told broadcasters to hide the boos. Protect us from his anger.
The MAGA movement has consistently argued, often correctly, that we’ve become too comfortable shutting down voices we don’t like. They mock “safe spaces” and “snowflakes” who can’t handle disagreement. They champion thick skin and telling it like it is.
Fine. But you can’t have it both ways.
Isn’t this how “Let’s Go Brandon” started? A reporter either misheard or pretended the crowd said something else. The crude chant about President Biden became a rallying cry. The Right used it as proof of media dishonesty and the value of plain, audible crowd opinion. They printed it on t-shirts, bumper stickers, and even Christmas ornaments. They said it showed that unfiltered speech matters.
So what do we call it when a New York tennis crowd has a normal, mixed reaction to Trump, and the networks treat it like a broadcast hazard? You can’t celebrate raw crowd chants in one case and then sanitize loud boos in another.
What should worry us isn’t the booing. It’s the fear. When big institutions start censoring themselves before anyone even asks, and when they’re so nervous about one man’s reaction that they airbrush reality, we’ve crossed a line.
MAGA is right: America shouldn’t be a nation of snowflakes. But that has to include them.
Because right now the message sounds a lot like: We’re the tough guys who tell it like it is, but also, could everyone please stop being so mean?
That’s not toughness. That’s a safe space with better camera angles.
Charlie Harger is the host of “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here. Follow Charlie on X and email him here.
