Jay Feely, a former NFL kicker now running for US Congress as a Republican in Arizona’s 5th Congressional District, has positioned himself as a pro-Trump, MAGA-aligned candidate. However, a closer look at his public statements and political history reveals a starkly different picture—one of consistent criticism of President Donald Trump and a troubling alignment with Democrat figures and policies. This raises serious questions about whether Feely deserves the coveted Trump endorsement.
Despite his recent claims of longstanding support for Donald Trump since 2016, records show Feely has never donated to any of Trump’s campaigns, and has instead backed Trump’s rivals in multiple primaries. Feely announced his candidacy on April 22, 2025, and has since received endorsements from figures like Congressman Jim Jordan on April 22, 2025, and Congressman Tom Emmer on April 29, 2025, both of whom have ties to the Republican establishment. Feely’s campaign is also funded by Kamala Harris mega donors like Arthur Blank and unpopular woke business CEOs like NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who is also a Trump critic. Feely’s campaign website emphasizes that he is supposedly fighting for border security and putting America First, but he has not provided any evidence that he fights for these causes. Additionally, his financial disclosures filed in August 2025 reveal a net worth between $15.9 million and $65.5 million, including earnings from CBS and rental properties, raising questions about his connection to everyday voters.
Feely’s anti-Trump rhetoric spans nearly a decade, undermining his claims of loyalty to the MAGA movement. In July 2016, after Trump secured the Republican nomination, Feely expressed his frustration on X, stating he was “disillusioned by the entire political landscape.” This vague but pointed remark came at a time when Trump was reshaping the Republican Party, suggesting Feely’s discomfort with the MAGA wave. During the 2016 primaries, Feely publicly supported Trump’s rivals, including Jeb Bush, and Marco Rubio, declaring following a GOP Primary debate in 2016, “Rubio looked presidential and had the most substance but I doubt it will matter” Feely even cheered on Fox News host Megyn Kelly for her staged questioning of Trump during a GOP Presidential debate in August 2015, likening her approach to “throwing haymakers.”
On February 15, 2019, Feely quoted a post by Shannon Sharpe—a frequent Trump critic (currently embroiled in a sex scandal) who has repeatedly attacked Trump’s policies, including calling his border security measures divisive and harmful. In his post, Feely highlighted the “hypocrisy” in both parties on executive orders for immigration, noting that Republicans balked at Obama’s DACA implementation but would support Trump’s executive order actions on immigration. Feely failed to recognize the fact that many constitutional scholars on the right view Trump’s secure border executive orders as legal and Barack Obama’s pro-open borders executive orders as illegal.
These criticisms continued through 2024 and into 2025, when Feely, during an appearance on KTAR’s “The War Room” on April 9, 2025, attacked Trump for the way he “demeans people” and labeled January 6th as a “failure in leadership” on Trump’s part. In January 2025, Feely publicly opposed Trump’s pardon of January 6 defendants, asserting on “The War Room” on January 22, 2025, that there “need to be consequences” for those who “assaulted police officers and committed violence”, adding that pardoning them “sends the wrong message” and “undermines the rule of law.” This stance directly contradicts the sentiments of many Trump supporters who view the pardons as a defense of political prisoners. Additionally, in 2024, Feely favored Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over Trump, emphasizing that “character” would matter to voters, implying a benefit for DeSantis.
However, since announcing his congressional run in April 2025, Feely’s posts on X have shifted dramatically to full-throated support for Trump, including praise for Trump’s trade deals, tariffs, border policies, and strikes in Iran in posts from July 3, 2025, suggesting a strategic pivot to appeal to MAGA voters.
Feely’s political history further complicates his Republican credentials. In previous years, he registered as an independent, and in 2023, he left the Republican Party by submitting a registration update where he omitted the party field, though this did not officially change his affiliation, and he remained a registered Republican per Maricopa County records. This move signals a rejection of the party’s direction under Trump’s influence at times. Additionally, Feely’s 2016 statement on Barack Obama is concerning. Feely wrote, “As Obama takes his final bow, I will give him this; He is the best orator we have had in the Oval Office. The man can give a speech.”
Feely’s campaign has received significant financial backing from donors with troubling anti-Trump and pro-Democrat ties, further undermining his MAGA credentials. For instance, Arthur Blank contributed $3,500 to Feely’s primary campaign on May 12, 2025; Blank, who hosted a fundraiser for Joe Biden in Atlanta on May 18, 2024 , donated $250,000 to the Biden Victory Fund on July 1, 2020, and $50,000 on September 11, 2020, totaling $300,000 in 2020, along with $400,000 to the Harris Victory Fund on June 15, 2023, $500,000 on April 24, 2024, and $423,000 on May 2, 2024. Blank also joined Mark Cuban and Jeffrey Epstein associate Reid Hoffman as a member of the “Business Leaders for Harris.”
Similarly, super WOKE NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell donated $7,000 to Feely’s primary on June 18, 2025, and $3,500 to the general on the same date; Goodell, who recently embraced “DEI” by announcing on February 3, 2025, that “we’ve proven to ourselves that it does make the NFL better” and reaffirmed this commitment to DEI on April 6, 2025, stating that the league’s diversity efforts are “fundamental in trying to attract the best possible talent into the National Football League both on and off the field”, has a history of criticizing Trump, calling Trump’s comments on the 2017 NFL protests—where players kneeled during the national anthem to protest “police brutality and racial injustice”—”divisive” and demonstrating “an unfortunate lack of respect for the NFL”
Charles Barkley gave $7,000 to Feely’s primary and $3,500 to the general on June 27, 2025; Barkley blasted Trump supporters as “nutty” on December 7, 2023, during a CNN interview, and said he could never vote for Trump on July 12, 2024.
Feely’s ties to the Clintons are equally troubling for a candidate seeking President Trump’s support. Feely partnered with former President Bill Clinton through the Clinton Global Initiative, participating in its 2014 University meeting at Arizona State University. He also praised the Clinton Foundation’s work in Haiti. On X, Feely even shared a photo of himself with the Clintons at the golf range during the Humana Challenge. The photo has since been deleted, which suggests Feely is trying to scrub his associations with hardcore Democrats from the internet. Feely expressed excitement about Clinton visiting his housing project in Leveque, Haiti, on January 12, 2013, and highlighted collaborative efforts like solar power and irrigation partnerships with the Clinton Foundation. Older posts from 2012 praise Clinton’s oratory skills and intelligence, including a September 6, 2012 post in which he said, “Discussion Clinton & Bush had was much better.”
Adding to the skepticism is Feely’s financial backing from Congressman Tom Emmer, whom Trump has publicly branded a “globalist RINO” and opposed for Speaker of the House in 2023. Emmer’s endorsement came on April 29, 2025 via X. Emmer said Feely is the “conservative choice” for the district, tying Feely to the establishment wing of the Republican Party, which Trump has consistently railed against. For a candidate seeking to align with the MAGA movement, such connections and endorsements from RINOS are a liability.
Trump’s endorsement carries immense weight in Republican primaries, signaling to voters a candidate’s commitment to his America First agenda. Feely’s track record—marked by repeated criticism of Trump, praise for Democrat political icons, and a departure from the Republican Party—casts serious doubt on his alignment with the MAGA, America First agenda. His public statements and affiliations suggest Feely is a candidate who is more comfortable aligning with the uniparty establishment rather than with the populist energy of Trump’s base. For these reasons, Feely’s bid for a Trump endorsement appears not only unlikely, but also undeserved.
Republican voters in Arizona’s 5th District deserve a candidate whose loyalty to the MAGA movement is unambiguous, not one whose record reveals a pattern of opposition to its leader. President Trump should not endorse Jay Feely for US Congress.
