New York Governor Kathy Hochul said she could not decide which would be worse, Donald Trump serving as President or owning the Buffalo Bills. The Buffalo native faced an impossible question during a recent podcast appearance.
Pablo Torre asked Hochul on his Pablo Torre Finds Out to imagine Trump buying the Bills instead of becoming president. The governor struggled to choose between the two outcomes. “I’m just gonna have to deflect on that question,” Hochul admitted when pressed for an answer.
She believes Trump would have pursued both goals simultaneously. “I suspect even if he owned the Bills, he probably still would have had his political ambitions,” Hochul said. She called team ownership “an investment for him” rather than a passion project.
Hochul fears Trump would have destroyed the franchise. “I think the team would have just spiraled,” she explained. The governor even suggested Trump “might have moved the Bills somewhere else” away from Buffalo entirely.
The Bills thrived without Trump’s involvement. The team has become one of the NFL’s most successful franchises in recent years. Buffalo’s passionate fanbase has watched their team compete at the highest level consistently.
Hochul appeared on the bonus episode of Pablo Torre Finds Out alongside New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. The conversation happened just before Election Day this week.
The governor did make one definitive statement about Trump’s presidency. She claimed his time in office has been “worse than Scott Norwood’s missed field goal during Super Bowl XXV that sailed wide right.” That’s a devastating comparison for any Bills fan to process.
Stephen A. Smith previously revealed Trump’s motivation for running for president. The ESPN personality recalled a 2014 phone conversation where Trump threatened revenge against the NFL.
“He said, ‘If they screw me over, I’m gonna show them, I’m gonna get them all back, I’m gonna run for president of the United States,'” Smith remembered during a 2022 First Take episode.
Donald Trump’s Failed Bid Started His Political Journey
Trump wanted to own the Bills badly when they went up for sale. The NFL rejected his bid, instead choosing Terry and Kim Pegula as the new owners. That rejection may have changed American history forever.
The president attempted to damage the league during his first term. He politicized Colin Kaepernick’s stance on racial inequality and police brutality. Trump repeatedly criticized players who kneeled during the national anthem.
His attacks on the NFL generated headlines but didn’t seriously harm the league. Television ratings remained strong and franchises continued gaining value. The Bills specifically flourished under the ownership of the Pegulas.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry recently said he wouldn’t mind Trump picking LSU’s next head football coach. Hochul clearly doesn’t share that enthusiasm for Trump’s involvement in sports franchises.
The governor believes Trump lacks the temperament to run a successful NFL team. His business background includes multiple bankruptcies and failed ventures. The Bills dodged a bullet by avoiding his ownership.
Buffalo fans can breathe a sigh of relief knowing their team remains in Western New York. Moving the franchise would have devastated one of the NFL’s most loyal communities. The Bills represent Buffalo’s identity in ways Trump never understood.
A decade has passed since Trump’s rejected bid. The NFL and Bills both thrive without his involvement. Hochul’s difficulty choosing between scenarios shows how problematic either option seemed to her.
The hypothetical question revealed more about Trump’s impact than the actual Bills history. Buffalo’s success story continues without the drama Trump would have brought.
