During Tuesday’s House Oversight subcommittee hearing focused on the Smithsonian Institution’s approach to American history, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) questioned historian David Blight about fan preferences in the 2026 FIFA World Cup final between Argentina and Spain.
The congresswoman then suggested that supporting Argentina in this past weekend’s World Cup final clash with Spain was a sign of racism. This, she explained, was due to the racial composition of each of the teams.
“The World Cup that captured the imaginations of the entire world, when they saw all these people of color that was playing for all these teams, and ultimately, if you recall, the last two teams, it was Argentina and Spain, and it seemed like the vast majority of the world was rooting for Argentina- or actually against Argentina, right?” she said. “And why was that? Just give me an explanation. If you could guess.”
Blight responded by speculating that fan support was linked to team performance. “Spain had the best team. Maybe that’s why they were rooting for them?” the historian answered.
The congresswoman did not like the answer, as she asserted that rooting for Argentina was a racist act. “There’s also a racist history that exists as it relates to Argentina,” she added.
CROCKETT: All of these people of color that was playing for all these teams and ultimately if you recall the last two teams, it was Argentina and Spain and it seemed like the vast majority of the world was rooting… against Argentina, right? And why was that?
WITNESS: Spain had… pic.twitter.com/yCSMNC4IFi
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) July 21, 2026
The comments come just weeks after Crockett defended convicted murderer Karmelo Anthony — who fatally stabbed 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a Frisco, Texas track meet — and suggested that she would’ve done the same.
After defending the concept of a high school student bringing a knife to school and immediately producing it to stab another student in the chest, Crockett wildly misrepresented the circumstances of the case in order to claim Anthony’s life was in danger. “If a 300-pound man is beating me, like on top of me and beating me down, I’m not limited to fists,” the congresswoman said, inventing a scenario that did not happen.
“You know, I would argue that even, the only time we go into things like people’s hands being considered deadly weapons, is typically, like, if they’re a professional boxer, that kind of stuff, but I think by the time you start getting to, like, football player, good argument. Good, freaking arguments. We are not talking about, like, the golfers. We’re talking about football players, right?”
