Watch: CBS ‘edits out’ NFL player’s Trump dance celebration

Brock Bowers imitates president-elect’s moves after touchdown but network’s clip cuts away

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CBS has been accused of editing out an NFL player’s Donald Trump-inspired celebration dance.
The broadcaster, which is already being sued by the Trump campaign over its editing of an interview with Kamala Harris, has been criticised by fans after removing the celebration from a clip published on social media.
Brock Bowers, a tight end for the Las Vegas Raiders, imitated the president-elect’s distinctive dance moves after scoring a 23-yard touchdown against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
Mr Trump’s moves, which he often showcases at rallies while “YMCA” or one his other favourite campaign tunes blare out, have become a viral craze among NFL players and TikTok stars.
The live television broadcast showed Bowers dropping his arms to his sides and jerking his arms back and forth, in apparent homage to the president-elect.
However, CBS did not include the post-touchdown celebration on a social media clip published after the game.
Instead, it cut to Mark Davis, the Las Vegas raiders owner, briefly raising his arms above his head with the caption: “Mark Davis loving the Brock Bowers TD [touchdown].”
Fans have accused CBS of cutting the celebration to slight the president-elect.
The edited NFL clip was first reported by the conservative sports publication Outback, which said of CBS: “Maybe these people are just miserable liberals who hate Donald Trump. And all things Donald Trump.
“And they hate conservative people enjoying the victory. And they especially hate when some conservatives who play in the NFL celebrate like Trump does.”
However, the publication also suggested the decision may have been taken because “posting the dance would add a couple of extra seconds and people don’t have that much time to waste”.
Fans quickly followed suit, posting to social media that cutting the dance was “a joke,” and branding the network “clowns”.
Bowers said afterwards that his celebration had been inspired by the UFC fighter Jon Jones, who performed his own version of the dance in front of Mr Trump on Saturday after knocking out his opponent in the third round.
CBS is being sued by the Trump campaign for $10 billion after editing a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris, the former Democratic presidential candidate, to replace one of her answers with a more coherent response during the election campaign.
Karoline Leavitt, a Trump campaign spokeswoman, said that “the word salad was deceptively edited to lessen Kamala’s idiotic response” and called for the original tape of the interview to be released.
“The American people deserve the full, unedited transcript from Kamala’s sit-down interview,” she said.
A CBS spokesman denied the claims, saying: “Former President Donald Trump is accusing 60 Minutes of deceitful editing of our Oct 7 interview with vice-president Kamala Harris. That is false.”
Mr Trump’s dance moves have been widely parodied across social media, and it seems to have taken a particular hold in the NFL.
Four members of the San Francisco 49ers performed the moves as Bowers earlier this month. One of the players was Nick Bosa, who has previously been fined by the NFL for crashing a post-game interview in a “Make America Great Again” hat.
Other NFL players who have succumbed to the Trump dance craze include Calvin Ridley of the Tennessee Titans, and Za’Darius Smith, a defensive end for the Detroit Lions.
Mr Trump’s dancing has become an unlikely source of viral content on TikTok, the social media platform that he attempted to outlaw during his first administration before U-turning and pledging to save it from a federal ban passed under Joe Biden.
Several users have created a “Donald Trump dance tutorial” to show fans how to recreate the Republican’s stiff choreography.
Some users have even made the effort to dress up as the president-elect, donning his distinctive dark suit and red power tie for the clips. Others have worn “Make America Great Again” caps.
One TikTok user, in a “cultural analysis” of Mr Trump’s dancing, said the videos demonstrated “the shift of the Left being cool to now, the Right being cool” and claimed: “The Left has lost the cool war.”
CBS has been approached for comment by The Telegraph.
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