Despite attempted censorship, Donald Trump gets mixed reaction from U.S. Open crowd

Donald Trump capped off a weekend of extrajudicial killings and declaring war on his own citizens by receiving a decidedly mixed reaction at the U.S. Open. U.S. Open organizers were somewhat prepared for the response and reportedly requested that broadcasters censor crowd noise when President Trump’s face appeared on screen. Drawing outside protesters, Trump’s appearance delayed the tennis match between Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz and Italy’s Jannik Sinner by 30 minutes due to added security measures. Upon arriving at his seats in the Rolex Suite at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Trump’s hometown of Queens, New York, with the crowd at about 10% of stadium capacity, Trump was met with boos from the audience. The response from a half-full stadium during the National Anthem was a touch warmer, with genuine cheers for Sgt. Maj. Carla Loy’s rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” turning to jeers when Trump, saluting the big, beautiful flag, appeared on the Jumbotron. As if to clarify the crowd reaction, when Trump’s face appeared on screen during the match, he received definitive boos.

The audience’s audible response shows that the U.S. Open organizers’ attempts to censor the reaction failed. Yesterday, tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg reported that the U.S. Tennis Association requested that broadcasters “refrain from showcasing any disruptions or reactions in response to the President’s attendance in any capacity.” While the U.S. Tennis Association attempted to manufacture consent around a president who empowered an army of masked, unidentified militants to kidnap people off the streets and committed potential war crimes through the extrajudicial killings of Venezuelans driving a boat, broadcasters allowed Americans to have their say on the deportation-loving president. Trump last appeared at the U.S. Open in 2015 and was booed.