Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh and his brother Jim, who is the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, were invited to the White House, and just like the overwhelming majority of Americans, they decided to meet with the president.
John has met four presidents, while Jim has met seven, thus far. Yet the media did not seem to question those other visits, only the one they had with President Trump. A reporter tried a gotcha question on John, but the Ravens coach wasn't having it.
The reporter threw everything he could into his question, bringing up past comments Trump made about Baltimore being "rat-infested," among other criticisms he had.
Here is how Harbaugh responded:
How you framed that question — I would have framed that question like: ‘You got a chance to go visit with the president, man. What was that experience like?’ It was amazing. It was awesome. And I promise you I root for our president. I want our president to be successful just like I want my quarterback to be successful, and I want my team to be successful, and it was an amazing experience. It's not often you get invited, and you get a chance to do something like that as a family.
Baltimore Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh SHUTS DOWN a fake news reporter when asked why he met Trump:
— Proud Elephant 🇺🇸🦅 (@ProudElephantUS) July 24, 2025
“I promise you, I root for our President…My mom and President Trump—seeing how he treated her, it was really meaningful.”pic.twitter.com/ZVeYU0VrsD
An unbiased reporter would have asked a question like the one Harbaugh mentioned. It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many Americans to visit the White House and meet the President of the United States. Had that reporter questioned Harbaugh about his other visits to the White House, it could have been a different story, but because he singled out this particular visit, we know that it was politically motivated.
Harbaugh continued:
And that's the fourth president [I’ve met]. Now, Jim has met seven [presidents]. Jim has met seven presidents, so he's got the lead on me. I think he pointed that out; did you guys notice that? He's got seven; I’ve got four. So, I had a chance to meet President [Barack] Obama twice. Incredible experience. I had a chance to meet President [Joe] Biden when he was vice president in Iraq, and I spent a lot of time with him in Iraq, which was amazing.
He did not need to explain himself to anybody, but he took the time to do it and shut down a left-wing reporter in the process.
Harbaugh concluded by talking about his visit with former President Ronald Reagan:
And then [when I was] 24 or 25 years old, Jim got invited to the White House to meet President [Ronald] Reagan because he was a Heisman Trophy candidate, and we got to go as a family, so I met President Reagan. I have a picture in my office of that. So those are moments that I definitely cherish, and it means a lot.
Just like any common-sense person, Harbaugh is proud of the fact that he has met four presidents in his lifetime, no matter which party they are affiliated with. It just goes to show that the Harbaughs are not partisan, and if they have the opportunity to meet with the president, they will not pass up on that.
The Harbaugh brothers are also staunch pro-lifers. Jim attended the March for Life rally in 2024:
.@UMichFootball head coach Jim Harbaugh speaks at #MarchforLife Rally, introducing former NFL player Benjamin Watson. pic.twitter.com/kBv5Yw5nqv
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 19, 2024
Jim was also asked about the White House visit and concluded with his signature "no-bo-dy" line:
"There’s a lot of gratitude there to be invited to the White House to meet the president with my family, my mom and dad. President Trump was just great to my mom and dad. That meant so much. My brother John; his daughter Allison; my two daughters, Addie and Katie; and my sister Joanie; and my niece Ainsley. So, there’s nine of us, and it was great," the Chargers coach said. I mean, who gets invited to the White House with eight other family members and doesn’t go? Nobody."
The Harbaugh brothers made the right decision to go to the White House and meet with President Trump because, at its core, the visit was about honoring achievement and respecting the office of the presidency. Both Jim and John have consistently emphasized values like discipline, respect, and leadership, and meeting the president, regardless of who holds the office, aligns with those principles. In a time when everything is politicized, their decision signaled that unity, sportsmanship, and tradition can still matter more than partisanship.
