Mitt Romney dresses as Ted Lasso for Halloween ... but quotes ‘Friday Night Lights’?
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Heaven knows he tried.
Utah Sen. Mitt Romney confused Twitter users on Thursday by posting a GIF of himself dressed as the titular character from “Ted Lasso” for Halloween ... with a caption referencing a different show, “Friday Night Lights.”
In the moving image, the Republican senator can be seen tapping a yellow-and-blue “Believe” poster — just like Jason Sudeikis’ American-football-coach-turned-British-football-coach does in the Emmy-winning Apple TV+ comedy.
To complete the “Ted Lasso” look, Romney wears a navy jacket with the AFC Richmond football club logo, a coach’s whistle and of course, Sudeikis’ signature mustache. The text of the tweet, however, pays homage to a different fictional football coach: Kyle Chandler’s Eric Taylor from the hit sports drama, “Friday Night Lights.”
Even Mohammed struggled with the jaw-dropping conclusion of his character’s arc: ‘I can’t believe that you’re gonna test your audience like this.’
“If you believe in yourself, and have clear eyes and full hearts — you can’t lose,” Romney wrote, quoting the beloved Coach Taylor’s famous catchphrase.
It’s possible that Romney simply intended to kill two birds with one stone by saluting multiple TV heroes at once — but fans of both series weren’t so quick to give him the benefit of the doubt.
“It’s one thing to make a little goof in a throwaway tweet because you quoted from an entirely different show than what you intended,” tweeted writer Charlotte Clymer. “It’s a very different thing to apparently plan out a tweet ahead of time, and no one on your comms team catches the obvious discrepancy.”
“Wrong show, champ,” wrote the Nation sports editor Dave Zirin. “[F]ire whoever did this.”
From a stoned Amsterdam monologue to a pair of sports coverage TV ads to a newly beloved sitcom, ‘Ted Lasso’ isn’t just a show. It’s a vibe.
The politician later course-corrected by posting another GIF of himself catching a soccer ball in costume as Ted and captioning it with an actual Lassoism: “Your body is like day-old rice. If it ain’t warmed up properly, something real bad could happen.”
In a follow-up tweet, Romney directly addressed Sudeikis, who famously played the 2012 presidential candidate during his tenure as a “Saturday Night Live” cast member.
“After 10 years, I’m finally returning the favor,” Romney wrote. “How was my @TedLasso, @JasonSudeikis?” Sudeikis, who is largely inactive on Twitter, has not responded.
In this crossover with “The Envelope” podcast, Emmy nominee Hannah Waddingham discusses her acting career and her “Ted Lasso” character’s softer side.
Also channeling “Ted Lasso” for Halloween is Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who joined the Republican senator as AFC Richmond owner Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham) for a bipartisan tribute to the acclaimed series.
In yet another tweet, Romney shared a GIF of himself hand-delivering a small, pink box of biscuits to Sinema — a nod to Ted and Rebecca’s morning ritual in “Ted Lasso.”
“Biscuits with the boss,” Romney captioned the image. “She’s one tough cookie.”
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