ESPN's Pat McAfee gets death threats over Trump comments. There's just one problem — he didn't say them.



Over the weekend, ESPN got to see exactly how things would play out if it aired completely partisan right-wing commentary.

Unfortunately, host Pat McAfee was the unwilling victim of an experiment that came out of a viral online post.

'What a f**king sellout.'

Saturday's game between the University of Tennessee Volunteers and the Texas Longhorns got a ton of fanfare. Whether it was McAfee doling out $1 million to a college student, "Jackass" star Johnny Knoxville trying to hand a referee $20, or the sitting president attending the game, the stakes were high between the two powerhouse schools.

About an hour before kickoff though, a post attributing a quote to McAfee made the rounds, resulting in the former NFL punter getting death threats.

"Pat McAfee picks President Donald Trump to win the Texas vs. Tennessee matchup on College GameDay," a post from X account @ShaneTuttleNCAA read.

"I only root for one team, and that team is TEAM USA," the post claimed McAfee said. Attached was a photo of McAfee with President Trump as his prediction for the winner of the game.

Although the picture was altered and the X account labels itself as "satire," plenty of viewers took the post seriously and went on a rampage against the ESPN host.

"What a f**king sellout," one reader said.

"Nobody likes ESPN commentators sharing political opinions," another wrote.

On Sunday, McAfee revealed screenshots of more alleged egregious responses:

"Yea he really does need to get kirked," one user apparently wrote in response, likely referring to the assassination of political commentator Charlie Kirk.

That account has seemingly been deleted.

Another X user apparently called McAfee a "worthless piece of s**t," prompting the host to wonder if enough people had seen that the original fabricated post had been hit with a community note from X.

RELATED: Peyton Manning's nephew learns what the liberal media is all about — and it may change him forever

Woke up this morning.. folks were really coming after me for being a really big piece of shit who has ruined everything.

“Man.. that’s the 1st host game pick I’ve gotten wrong this season.. both CGD & MNCD.. folks are really pissed off about it.” I immediately thought..

Then, I… pic.twitter.com/P4huiCkeFc
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) September 27, 2026

"All of these folks that were very excited to believe this DEFINITELY got a follow up about this being fake right?" McAfee asked openly.

"If it gets Community Noted much later on, is X forcing it back into folks [sic] feeds?" he continued. "I'm sure they all know it's not real. The community note probably cleared it all up for the 1,000,000+ folks that saw this," McAfee added.

X does notify users of a community note being added to a post if a user interacts with it by commenting, liking, or sharing, but not if a user simply sees it.

McAfee also called out the user who posted the image by name, while also singling out OutKick writer Jon Root for an article written the week prior.

McAfee said Root was "completely lying" about what he said, thereby "dropping" McAfee "into something with potential real life repercussions."

The article in question cited McAfee's comments during a military flyover, where he said, "We certainly appreciate the hell out of the American military. And if you're not the United States of America and you hear that sound, your ass better run."

According to OutKick, a previous version of the story "indicated Pat McAfee may have been referring to illegal immigration but in fact he seems to be referring to America’s military against its enemies."

RELATED: Pat McAfee refused to fold, and ESPN paid up. There's a lesson there for young men.

To his credit, Root chimed in on McAfee's post and condemned any threats made against the former NFL player and apologized.

"I apologize for taking that statement last week about the National Guard as a illegal immigration joke. I corrected it in the thread soon after posting, but probably should have just deleted it," Root wrote.

As for McAfee, he attempted to make light of the disturbing comments made about him. "That's fun," he wrote. "That's the good stuff."

McAfee concluded, "And if I do get 'kirked,' please know that I love my kin and I love ball. Now ... Let's have a phenomenal NFL Sunday."

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NY Giants quarterback labeled 'insane' over pregame comments — almost no one knew he was quoting the Bible



Fans called New York Giants quarterback Jameis Winston everything from crazy to a troll on Sunday, and they really couldn't figure out what he was trying to say.

Winston is known for being incredibly eloquent with his thoughts, but this time, he wasn't sharing his own words, and his comments seemingly went right over everyone's head.

'It's us doing, being doers, not speakers.'

Before the Week 3 game against the Tennessee Titans, droves of fans were already reacting to yet another head-scratching interview from the Giants' new starting quarterback, something they've already become accustomed to.

CBS reporter AJ Ross was the one tasked with asking Winston about his game prep and his ability to carry the team as he stepped in for injured QB Jaxson Dart; but there is no way she expected the answer Winston gave.

"One thing that I do is forgetting those that is behind and reaching forward to what's ahead," Winston replied.

Fans were confused. The video was seen over 5 million times, but almost no one understood what the QB was trying to say.

One post called Winston's words "utter incoherence," while another said he was saying "insane things."

No, Winston wasn't trying and failing to sound "eloquent," as another fan put it. He was actually quoting Scripture.

Winston was relaying the message of Philippians 3:13, about Paul the apostle admitting he has not yet achieved perfection.

RELATED: NFL fines player for 'beer' chug celebration — but what happened right after proves the league's hypocrisy

Not everyone was pessimistic about Winston's pregame words though. Popular podcast "Bussin' with the Boys" labeled the Alabama native a "poet," while sports website OutKick called him a "national treasure."

Podcaster Keith Malinak was one of the few who understood the message, relaying the passage to more readers.

Winston's unrelenting positivity has a way of resulting in some of the most entertaining — as well as some of the most confusing — interview segments, and he can often catch reporters off guard.

For example, when a CBS reporter asked him about how the weather might affect the game, Winston didn't give the most clear response.

"The circumstances, conditions, and facts, they don't matter," the 32-year-old replied. "It's us doing, being doers, not speakers."

With answers like that, it's not hard to see why fans have a difficult time determining when Winston is delivering biblical quotes or his own personal wisdom.

RELATED: 'You're like the most genuine dude': Comic Bert Kreischer gives hilarious, loving speech to Jameis Winston during Super Bowl

Elsa/Getty Images

Following the 12-7 win over the Titans, Winston began his postgame interview by telling reporters he was "elated" to see his team close out the game.

"Praise God," Winston added.

Consistent questions followed about whether he feels replaceable, but Winston continuously made it clear to reporters how grateful he is to be in his position.

The truth is, most analysts are not confident in Winston's capabilities as a starting quarterback. With no touchdowns and just 229 passing yards in his first two games, criticisms have come quickly and in abundance.

As ESPN's Stephen A. Smith stated, there is a certain expectation of an eventual big mistake when Winston is in the game.

"Jameis Winston is more entertaining and more interesting in the pregame chatter about football than he is once he's behind center. That's the reality of the situation," he said.

The Giants play the Arizona Cardinals in Week 4 in what should be another winnable game. The Giants have many such games before the end of the calendar year.

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NFL fines player for 'beer' chug celebration — but what happened right after proves the league's hypocrisy



Multiple NFL players were fined this week for what the league called a celebration made "in poor taste."

Unfortunately for the NFL, the moments that transpired afterward made it incredibly easy to mock the league's front office as hypocritical.

'An offensive demonstration and could reasonably be construed as being in poor taste.'

The players in question included San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk, who, after catching a pass for a touchdown in the third quarter against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, performed a celebration that made it look like he was chugging a beverage.

The NFL took issue with that, fining him $14,926 and telling the player his "imitation of chugging a beer constituted an offensive demonstration and could reasonably be construed as being in poor taste."

As ESPN reporter Adam Schefter reported, not only did Juszczyk immediately appeal the fine, the fullback's nickname is "Juice," meaning it is arguable that he could have been imitating drinking a glass of juice.

To make matters worse, fans and reporters alike immediately pointed out the number of prominent beer ads and sponsorships associated with the NFL, including Bud Light under its Anheuser-Busch partnership that runs through 2027.

While some online critics artificially placed a Bud Light ad right after Juszczyk's touchdown, it's not far from what actually happened.

According to the Athletic's 49ers reporter Matt Barrows, not only did a Michelob Ultra beer commercial air in the ad block right after Juszczyk scored, so did a FanDuel gambling ad that featured beer drinking. Michelob is under Anheuser-Busch while FanDuel is also an NFL sponsor.

RELATED: Peyton Manning's nephew learns what the liberal media is all about — and it may change him forever

Indianapolis Colts guard Matt Goncalves was also fined $8,847 for a similar "offensive demonstration" that was labeled "chugging a beer."

Backlash from journalists and athletes alike was swift but focused on "Juice" in particular.

Former NFL player and three-time defensive player of the year J.J. Watt asked the most obvious question: "Could it not be 'reasonably construed' that he is drinking ... stay with me here ... Juice?"

George Kittle, 49ers tight end, posted a picture of his teammate holding a can of Bud Light and joked, "He can't be stopped!! This is before practice! Are you kidding me?"

Sportscaster Linda Cohn called the NFL's punishment "HEAD SHAKING HYPOCRISY," while Fox analyst Jason McIntyre asked, "The NFL can have beer as a sponsor, but a fullback can't do a celebration pretending to chug a beer?"

RELATED: MAGA-haters say 'Trump curse' hit Jaxson Dart with reportedly season-ending injury

Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

According to reporter Schefter, in addition to his appeal, Juszczyk also texted that he has done the celebration before without being fined, adding, "And I don’t even drink beer!"

Juszczyk also took to wife Kristin's TikTok account to partake in a video of him squeezing oranges into a glass with the caption, "$14,926 glass of juice."

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Jason Whitlock: Colin Kaepernick DISSES white parents for his black identity



Colin Kaepernick is openly complaining that his white adoptive parents couldn't prepare him for what it means to be black in America — but BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock says they're the reason he succeeded in the first place.

In an interview on "The Karen Hunter show," Hunter asked Kaepernick how he thought “about the term 'biracial' in relation to [his] black identity” and whether or not it resonated with him at all.

“I identify as a black man,” Kaepernick responded. “It’s how I show up in the world. It’s how I’m treated in the world. That’s politically how I approach the world. Biracial, my parents knew I was black and told me I was black at a young age.”

“But also how they operated was within a sense of color blindness. Like, hey, we’re all family, like, everybody’s going to be treated equal. And that’s what it is. But that’s not how the world is going to operate or treat me when I walk outside these doors,” he continued.


Kaepernick went on to explain that his white parents from Wisconsin never explained that to him.

“I think their exposure to blackness was also whatever was out in the media at a high level,” he said.

“He’s acting like, ‘Oh, what a disadvantage it was,’” Whitlock says, pointing out that statistically those raised in black families aren’t doing anywhere near as well as he is.

“Don’t you see how well these black parents are doing preparing their kids for success? Haven’t you looked at their SAT scores? Haven’t you looked at their graduation rates? Haven’t you looked at their marriage rates?” Whitlock asks.

“Now they treated him like they treated a kid that would have been their own. They wanted him to be colorblind. And he turned out, for the most part, for a good stretch, pretty successful. Stayed out of trouble, made it to college, made it to the NFL,” he continues.

“It almost feels like what they did worked,” he adds.

However, now that Kaepernick has turned his focus to his racial identity, he’s starting to fail.

“And then once Colin Kaepernick became obsessed with his blackness, that’s when all the trouble started and that’s where the career and everything started going a different direction,” Whitlock explains.

“This guy’s clueless,” he adds.

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Peyton Manning's nephew learns what the liberal media is all about — and it may change him forever



Star quarterback for the University of Texas Longhorns, Arch Manning, describing a video as "hilarious" was enough to change his public perception in the liberal media forever.

For his reaction, Manning seemingly became public enemy No. 1 and was immediately accused of supporting violence against women.

'Obviously f**k Arch Manning.'

The outrage came after Manning laughed at an AI video that showed his coach, Steve Sarkisian, slapping ESPN reporter Holly Rowe after a game.

The video was just six seconds. Manning's reaction lasted slightly longer when he asked media members if they had seen it.

"Him slapping Holly Rowe. Yeah, it's hilarious," Manning said. The entire room laughed along, but the laughter was short-lived.

From that point on, the air around Manning completely changed as the sports world seemed to turn on him.

"Obviously f**k Arch Manning," wrote Katy Duffy, senior producer at the Athletic. Duffy also called it "disgusting" that another reporter had asked Manning the question and shared his answer.

ESPN host Shae Cornette said Manning was "insensitive" and "immature" before adding, "Quite frankly, how dare he say that?"

MS NOW sports columnist Jason Page claimed Manning was showing people "who he really is."

Manning followed protocol and ignored the insults, apologized, and called his own comments "insensitive."

He even contacted Rowe, who accepted his apology. But the next time Manning spoke to the media, fans immediately noticed he was different.

Manning took less than a minute to answer almost 20 questions, barely smiled, and deadpanned most of his answers with the typical non-responses fans are used to hearing from athletes.

The 22-year-old's spark was gone.

Comparing press conferences before and after the ordeal, one college football page said the media fiasco had "just nuked Arch Manning's personality."

Others made similar observations.

RELATED: MAGA-haters say 'Trump curse' hit Jaxson Dart with reportedly season-ending injury

"This is what bogus media criticism creates, what incentive do athletes have to be honest? Zero," Clay Travis remarked.

Popular page ML Football screamed in all caps, "THIS IS AWFUL," in reaction to Manning's new, subdued nature.

Eli Manning, Arch's uncle, spoke with Front Office Sports and, perhaps shockingly, summarized what most seemed to be thinking: Treating the media as friends will come back to haunt you.

"You feel like they're your pal. You relax with them a little bit. You try to be funny, and then they can take it and run," Uncle Eli told host Baker Machado.

The former New York Giant advised his nephew to be careful and find moments where "you can be funny."

Eli's wisdom concluded with saying his nephew will figure things out and eventually "learn and deal with it."

RELATED: Chiefs head coach credits Taylor Swift for keeping Travis Kelce's energy levels up — in an unexpected way

Redemption for Manning — which his uncle said will include "growing pains" — may be in lessons learned, but the backlash to some of his detractors may fill in the gaps of his newfound silence.

For example, the Post Millennial reported that Minnesota TV anchor Jana Shortal said that the entire room needed to apologize, along with Manning, for laughing at what she described as a violent depiction. After calling the whole situation a "huge issue," Shortal was taken off the air a few days later.

"Karma came fast," commentator Brandon Tatum wrote on X.

As well, former NFL wide receiver T.J. Moe replied to Rowe and told her that Manning had no reason to apologize to her and did nothing wrong.

"The proper response here would've been 'No need to apologize, Arch. You did nothing wrong.'"

At the same time, fans noted that the Atlantic's Katy Duffy, a harsh critic of Manning, had herself joked that an NFL player should be slapped "again," but in real life. Interestingly, Duffy replied by saying the post reminded her "how funny" she is.

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MAGA-haters say 'Trump curse' hit Jaxson Dart with reportedly season-ending injury



The season of the New York Giants football team has seemingly ended after a devastating injury to the team's star quarterback, Jaxson Dart, during "Monday Night Football."

Dart was in great pain when he got tackled by linebackers Byron Young and Josiah Stewart in the opening drive of the game against the Los Angeles Rams.

'Everything...and I mean EVERYTHING...that trump touches turns to s***...'

He suffered an injury to his left knee and was pulled out of the game. Initially the injury appeared to be moderate, but sources indicated later that he may be out for the rest of the season.

While Giants fans were upset by the news, some critics of President Donald Trump gleefully blamed the injury on the "Trump curse." Dart had introduced the president at a rally in New York and expressed his support for the Republican in May.

"Jaxson Dart appears to be the latest victim of the Trump curse," responded an X user with pronouns in his profile.

"Everyone who sucks up to TRUMP pays!! Trump is POISON!! Hope Dart thought it was worth it!" said another critic.

"Jaxson Dart introduced Trump and this happens. Talk about the kiss of death smh," read one response.

"Everything...and I mean EVERYTHING...that trump touches turns to s***, including Dart. It's quite remarkable," said another.

"Just another example of Trump / MAGA destroying everything they touch?" asked one account.

"The Curse of Trump strikes again. Dart never should have attended the Trump rally and introduced him. Everything Trump touches is cursed. Live and learn the hard way kid," said another critic.

Others implied that Dart's own offensive line didn't protect him enough in order to get him back for his support of Trump.

RELATED: Christian NFL star apologizes after referring to kids' game that likely left LGBTQ crowd seething

Young, the linebacker who tackled Dart, was far more civil in his response on social media.

"Never play to hurt anybody. I pray for a healthy recovery," he wrote and added a prayer emoji.

The Giants went on to lose the game to the Rams by a score of 6 to 28.

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Jason Whitlock: Patrick Clancy faced the cameras — but not the tough questions



For months, America waited to hear directly from Patrick Clancy.

The father at the center of one of the nation's most heartbreaking and controversial criminal cases sat down with "60 Minutes" to discuss the deaths of his three children at the hands of his wife.

However, while the interview offered intimate details about Clancy’s grief and recovery, BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock doesn’t believe Ross Douthat pressed him hard enough — and thinks the answers seemed scripted.

“What we got was soft light and soft questions,” Whitlock says.


“Patrick said baby Callan died in his arms. He said he begged God for one kid to live. He said Lindsay told him the killings felt like a dream. He said he forgave her without being asked. He said he had a panic attack on the stand, refused the medications, and finished the testimony,” he continues.

“He said the TikTok mob is trash. He said he married a fertility doctor and they are starting a family. Every line carried weight on paper. Almost none of it hit like a man who had just buried three children and then watched a courtroom turn their deaths into a national argument,” he adds.

Whitlock points out that in the 14-minute interview that aired, Douthat never “pressed the hard scenes,” like Patrick leaving Lindsay alone after she told him she had thoughts of harming the kids.

“He never forced a straight answer on the mistrial, the holdout juror, or whether Patrick Clancy still wants a retrial,” he says.

“He treated forgiveness like a virtue signal and left the public with a quiet man reading from a prepared grief script,” he continues.

“Patrick came across careful, managed, and strangely flat for a father whose name is now welded to the biggest postpartum psychosis fight in the country. '60 Minutes' sold revelation,” he adds. “What aired felt like damage control with better lighting.”

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Chiefs head coach credits Taylor Swift for keeping Travis Kelce's energy levels up — in an unexpected way



What's enabling Travis Kelce to perform so well early this season?

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid has a couple of theories, and they are both providing results.

'Would he be out of shape and honeymooning the whole time and all that?'

Kelce has started the 2026 season on fire, and although it has only been two games, he's averaging the most receiving yards per game (86) since his 2020 season (94.4), which was his career high.

He's also put up the most yards per reception he ever has (14.3), so far.

The reasons for that, according to Reid, are equal parts Taylor Swift and Kelce's "rear end" — literally.

"Trav worked his tail off. That's the bottom line," he told reporters in a remote press conference on Monday.

Reid praised "the amount of work" Kelce has put in, as well as his "surrounding cast." Reid was seemingly referring to the people Kelce is surrounding himself with on a personal level, and that includes his new wife, Swift.

The coach said that everyone wondered whether Kelce would be exhausted at the start of the season following his recent wedding and subsequent honeymoon, asking, "Would he be out of shape and honeymooning the whole time and all that?"

Then Reid answered his own question, saying that Kelce is trying to keep up with his wife's energy levels.

"He works his rear end off, and I think Taylor [Swift], you're putting on four-hour shows, you've got to work hard, too. So I'm sure she kicks him in the butt a little bit there, too."

RELATED: Wife of Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator allegedly shot by their son 'multiple times'

Again referring to Kelce working his tail off, Reid said the tight end has "really focused in on his body strength and his glutes and everything, you know, where you develop all the power and speed and maintain it."

The 68-year-old added, "I think he's done a good job in those areas, you know, where he's been able to maintain good explosiveness."

Players' tails seem to be top of mind for the Chiefs, with Kelce telling reporters after an overtime win against the Indianapolis Colts, "Guys were playing their tails off for the guys next to them, and that's why I love this team right now."

"We're in a zone right now where everybody's feeding off each other," Kelce continued, per KMBC News. "There was never a doubt that we were going to get that win."

RELATED: Muslim NFL players say they're confused after thousands of dollars in fines: 'I need answers'

Aaron M. Sprecher/Getty Images

Swift keeps herself in the news every time she shows up at a Chiefs game to support Kelce, and Sunday's game was no different.

The singer was recorded in the luxury suites at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, as she cheered on Kelce when he scored a touchdown in the first quarter.

"That's my husband!" she appeared to yell, pointing at her ring finger.

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Nike can't stop making woke campaigns — but this might finally wake it up



After years of woke ads and progressive positioning, the fun may be over for Nike.

An announcement on Monday morning is not only likely to hurt the company's image, but it also serves as an indicator of massive financial woes.

Nike's market cap has fallen from $264 billion in November 2021 to $52.7 billion.

Nearly two decades after being recognized as one of the premier blue-chip companies in the United States, Nike will have to say goodbye to the higher echelons of the financial market.

After 18 years, Nike has officially been dropped by the S&P 100, the index that typically represents the most established, investible, and financially reliable businesses there are.

The swoosh checkmark just isn't cutting it anymore, it seems. Nike's market cap has fallen from $264 billion in November 2021 to $52.7 billion in September, according to Fox News, its weakest valuation in 12 years.

Shares in Nike are also down 43% this year, but that's not to say the S&P 100 has struggled. In fact, S&P Global notes the S&P 100 is up nearly 13% year-to-date and 16.55% in the last year. While Nike has tanked massively in the last five years, the S&P 100 has increased 14.15% over the same time period.

Signs that Nike would be dropped from the index led to severe backlash from many who believe that the company's woke advertising in recent years is to blame, as Blaze News recently reported.

RELATED: 'Get woke, go broke': Nike is getting CRUSHED online after cratering in value

Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

The brand recently saw the exodus of two worldwide soccer stars to competitors, including Kylian Mbappe to On and Lamine Yamal to Adidas.

A series of controversial ad campaigns may also have turned off its audience.

Perhaps the most infamous Nike campaign featured former NFL quarterback and national anthem kneeler Colin Kaepernick in 2018.

In 2023, actor Dylan Mulvaney — known for pretending to be a young girl — made social media posts marketing women's sports bras and leggings as a paid promotion for Nike.

In 2025, the brand tapped female athletes like Caitlin Clark for a campaign about how women have been silenced and oppressed simply for being women.

"You can't take credit. You can't speak up. You can't be so ambitious. You can't break records. You can't have any fun. You can't make demands. You can't keep score. You can't stand out," the copy read.

This was followed by a blunder at the Boston Marathon in April, where Nike was rightly or wrongly raked over the coals for an ad that read, "Runners Welcome. Walkers Tolerated."

RELATED: ESPN reporter asks Alex Ovechkin if he would 'support the genocide' of Ukraine — Ovechkin doesn't budge

Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

Some attempts to right the ship have been made — see its family-friendly golf spot — but overall there has been an obvious problem at the company.

Jim Osman, a financial expert at Forbes, stated that Nike did not become weaker because the S&P decided to remove it, but rather the S&P was late to the party in noticing the company's financial issues.

"Customers moved first. Competitors gained ground. Nike relied too heavily on familiar franchises, pushed too far toward direct-to-consumer, weakened some wholesale relationships, and then had to spend time repairing them," Osman wrote.

He added that the numbers eventually caught up with the company, while full-price demand weakened at the same time.

The S&P 100 represents nearly 71% of the broader index of the S&P 500 and selects large companies across different industries to provide broad representation of the U.S. stock market. Nike remains in the S&P 500.

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ESPN reporter asks Alex Ovechkin if he would 'support the genocide' of Ukraine — Ovechkin doesn't budge



An interview to mark the start of the NHL season went off the rails when an activist reporter hammered one of the league's greatest players of all time with political questions.

Almost two weeks before the games start to count, Washington Capitals forward Alexander Ovechkin was talking to the media when an ESPN reporter started pelting him with question regarding a recent political ad he had been a part of.

She's 'got an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court for abducting Ukrainian children.'

Ovechkin, the NHL's all-time goal-scoring leader — yes, he has scored even more goals than Wayne Gretzky — was featured in a pro-Russia ad for President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party in the lead-up to the elections last weekend.

Although Ovechkin simply stood in the background during the ad, ESPN reporter Robert Klemko — who is half-Ukrainian — went after the hockey player about the details of the filming, asking if he informed his team before the video shoot.

"No," Ovechkin replied, per Klemko's recollection of the interview.

The reporter then told Ovechkin his appearance in the commercial "feels to people like a pro war stance."

"I don't think it's a pro war," Ovechkin reportedly replied. "I think it's just support what's happening in Russia. I want the peace and love for everybody. It doesn't matter who you are, American, Russian, or Ukrainian."

After Klemko claimed the war would "be done soon" if Putin stops the invasion, he later asked if Ovechkin would support Russia "no matter what."

The 41-year-old replied, "Well, I'm gonna live there, yeah."

This prompted the ESPN journalist to ask an inflammatory question: "So if they're responsible for a genocide, you would support the genocide?"

Ovechkin asked for a translation of "genocide" from a member of his media team, a note corroborated by different outlets. He then replied, "Oh. I would say, like, I'm, I hope it's not gonna, it's not gonna be like that."

RELATED: Sophie Cunningham defends Sydney Sweeney — but admits she 'morally' has a problem

In a clip from CTV News, Ovechkin told reporters he is going to move back to Russia when he retires from hockey.

"I'm going to stay there. I'm going to live there. My kids are going to live there."

Regarding the political ad, Ovechkin stated that he's "for peace and love" and that he hopes "everything's going to be okay."

He revealed when he was asked to do the commercial, he simply replied, "Yes."

"So, simple as that," Ovechkin said.

Outlet HockeyFeed said Klemko then "pressed" Ovechkin after the group press conference and attempted to tell the player what his involvement in the ad "really signals."

Ovechkin continuously gave statements like "I'm not in politics," and "I don't know who that is" in regard to certain people featured in the ad, but Klemko pressed forward and asked the Russian if he felt he was perpetuating propaganda.

"It mimics messaging Russians get that says Ukraine is responsible for being invaded by Russia," Klemko wrote.

"I can't say who's right and who's wrong," Ovechkin responded soon thereafter.

Klemko said he told Ovechkin that one of the people in the ad is "Maria Lvova Belova," who, he said, "got an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court for abducting Ukrainian children."

Ovechkin said he didn't know who that person is.

RELATED: Charles Barkley defends WNBA, but says 'race' and 'sexuality' are behind Sophie Cunningham clashes

Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images

Klemko's subsequent article for ESPN, published Thursday, cited University of Maryland "senior scholar" Sarah Oates, who directly stated that Russia is "perpetuating a genocide on Ukrainian people."

"Putin has said Ukraine and Ukrainians have no right to exist. And this is a key reason for the invasion. Ovechkin supports Putin, he supports the Russian regime, and that means he supports genocide," Oates claimed.

After his questions about genocide, Klemko said the media relations team ended his interview with Ovechkin.

Capitals general manager Chris Patrick later told ESPN that if Ovechkin had told the franchise about the ad, the organization would have "worked to avoid the situation very hard. And I doubt we'd be standing where we're standing right now if he had run it by us."

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