College football podcaster Josh Pate is drawing significant backlash on social media after recently having President Donald Trump as a podcast guest.
Trump appeared on the Feb. 22 episode of the aptly named “Josh Pate’s College Football Show” and briefly discussed football for roughly 10 minutes. The two talked about the NFL’s kickoff rules, Trump’s relationship with retired college football coaches Nick Saban and Urban Meyer, and the president offered some positive thoughts on the Georgia Bulldogs.
“I like this Georgia team,” Trump said. “I like your quarterback, by the way. I like Gunner [Stockton]. He’s going to be a great quarterback. I’m telling you, he’s already a great quarterback, but he’s only going to get better.”
Georgia finished 12-2 and won its fourth SEC championship since 2017. However, the Bulldogs lost to Ole Miss in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals. Stockton finished seventh in Heisman Trophy voting, completing 69.7% of his passes for 2,894 yards, 24 touchdowns and five interceptions. The first-year starter also rushed for 10 touchdowns.
President Trump will join the show Sunday pic.twitter.com/ZC76YarHNK
— Josh Pate (@JoshPateCFB) February 19, 2026
Trump also praised former Bulldogs running back Herschel Walker, who ran for the U.S. Senate in 2022. Stockton and Walker both appeared on stage with Trump in Rome, Ga., last week. Walker has known Trump since both were involved in the United States Football League in the 1980s, and Walker currently serves as the United States Ambassador to the Bahamas.
Pate previously defended his decision to speak with Trump, writing, “When the President of the United States offers to discuss College Football it’s an auto-yes 1000% of the time” in an X post ahead of the interview’s release.
That didn’t stop social media — especially those in sports media — from widely criticizing Pate. Many, including Meadowlark Media’s Mike Ryan, took issue with Pate seemingly putting politics aside to have a sports-focused conversation.
“When you have shows like this, you are further normalizing something that is not normal,” Ryan said on “The Dan Le Batard Show”, adding, “When you give Donald Trump a platform, he is going to seize the opportunity to espouse lies, election denial, and do whatever he can. And most of these shows are not equipped to hold him accountable. He would trample you. He does this with some of the best interviewers in the nation that are political reporters.”
“You are further normalizing something that is not normal”@MichaelRyanRuiz on Donald Trump as a guest on the Josh Pate College Football Show pic.twitter.com/ffhumUh3ty
— Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (@LeBatardShow) February 20, 2026
An X user accused Pate of choosing to “sell out on his morals” just to grow his podcast brand. Pate included his interview with Trump at the start of a 25-minute-long video that had over 12,000 views in its first 11 hours on YouTube. Pate’s YouTube videos typically draw anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000 views.
Longtime college football journalist Alex Kirshner mocked Pate, remarking that people were being “too hard” on Pate for potentially speaking with Trump about Alabama Sen. and former college football coach Tommy Tuberville rather than talk about the Epstein Files. Trump has not been charged with any crimes related to Epstein.
To his credit, Pate has stood his ground on speaking with Trump. Pate also quoted an X post from a listener who wrote that, while they didn’t want to hear from Trump, they planned to skip Sunday’s episode but return for the next one.
“For those unfamiliar what we have here is an adult sharing a rational viewpoint online,” Pate replied. “See you Tuesday James.”
