President Joe Biden welcomed the repeat Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs to the White House on Friday as he too hopes for a back-to-back win in November.
The team’s second visit to the White House follows his Super Bowl LVIII victory against the San Francisco 49ers in February.
“The Kansas City Chiefs, the first team in 20 years to win back-to-back, winning back-to-back, I really like it,” Biden said.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Tavis Kelce were among 30 players who visited the White House on Friday.
Kelce, channeling Barack Obama in an oversized tan dress, took the podium with his best quote, “my fellow Americans.”
“I’m not going to lie, President Biden, they told me if I came here, they were going to give me a taste, so I’m going back to my place,” he joked.
Head coach Andy Reid, general manager Brett Veach, and owner Clark Hunt also made the trip.
“The most amazing thing about sports is how they can bring a community together … there are many things that can divide us today, but for many of us, sports provide a unifying joy that we all need,” Hunt said.
Friday’s photo shoot, however, was not without divisive figures. Kicker Harrison Butker and receiver Rashee Rice were both in the White House after generating their own controversies.
Butker recently drew criticism for her commencement speech at Benedictine University, where she urged female graduates to ditch their careers and embrace being homemakers.
Butker has also criticized the Biden administration for its positions on abortion and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rice last month turned himself into police in connection with a multi-car crash in Dallas.
The event was completed with Biden donning a Chiefs helmet after intense cheering from the Chiefs players.
“We got the royal treatment,” Reid said. “It was a good tour. Listen, I don’t know how many presidents get your team’s helmet.”
