Fact Check: No, Michael Jordan Has Not Endorsed Donald Trump; Debunking Viral Rumor and Its Origin

The United States Presidential Elections is fast approaching and many figures in sports are using their platforms to endorse a candidate. Within the last week, NBA superstar LeBron James took to X to endorse the Democratic party leader, Kamala Harris.

The election is on Tuesday, November 5. As a result, the main talking points on social media have centered around the election. Rumors began to spread that Michael Jordan endorsed the Republican party leader Donald Trump, which isn’t the case.

Claim

A claim was made that Jordan endorsed former United States President Donald Trump. This claim came only days after LeBron posted a video to X, publicly backing Kamala Harris.

What are we even talking about here?? When I think about my kids and my family and how they will grow up, the choice is clear to me. VOTE KAMALA HARRIS!!! pic.twitter.com/tYYlTmQS6e

— LeBron James (@KingJames) October 31, 2024

Unlike the public statement made by LeBron himself, the claim of Jordan’s endorsement came from an unverified third party.

Verdict

There is no reliable source that can confirm the claim that was made on X. Furthermore, Jordan’s representatives made a statement that said, “There is absolutely no truth to the claim that Michael Jordan has made an endorsement in the presidential election.”

Jordan has always been a private individual regarding personal beliefs, and that hasn’t changed ahead of the 60th quadrennial presidential election.

Origin of Claim

A user by the name of ‘TheRoyalSerf’ made a post on X making a false claim that Jordan is the latest figure to endorse Donald Trump for President.

https://twitter.com/TheRoyalSerf/status/1853162645425447265?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The post received 58,000 likes and tallied 1.7 million views. However, the self-proclaimed reporter who made the claim didn’t provide any evidence that suggested Jordan endorsed Trump. Users on X began to repost the false claim, which resulted in the post going viral. The post received 7,400 reposts in 1 day.

The platform’s fact-checking network added a community note to the post, proclaiming that the news in the post was false. Jordan has never publicly made his allegiances clear, and the post made was in bad taste. MJ has never publicly endorsed a presidential candidate in the past despite the urges of others, and it’s unlikely he’ll start now.