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Jeff Bezos has spent the last two years trying to ingratiate himself with MAGA. Once a supporter of same-sex marriage rights and LGBTQ+ causes, the centibillionaire has taken a hard right turn.
But as Bezos plots his next move, his MAGA bum-kissing may backfire.
Fresh off the World Cup, Bezos has been approached to join a group of advisors looking to purchase a sizable stake in Liverpool, one of the most storied soccer franchises in the world.
The notion of odious figures buying into Premier League teams is nothing new. The Saudi Public Investment Fund owns Newcastle United, while Manchester City is owned by an Emirati royal. Half of Premier League clubs are owned by American billionaires, families or investment groups.
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That includes Liverpool. Billionaire John Henry and his Fenway Sports Group have held a majority stake in Liverpool since 2010. Over the last 16 years, Henry has resurrected the once-downtrodden club into a Premier League champion, while alienating fans with his aloofness.
Bezos is even more polarizing. As the Daily Beast points out, Liverpool has a strong left-wing and socialist tradition. The team even wears red!
Meanwhile, the Amazon founder is the fourth-richest person in the world and gets more obnoxious with each zero added to his net worth ($269 billion). If Bezos does join the consortium, it promises to be a match made in football hell.
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Inviting LGBTQ+ backlash
Like many Premier League clubs, Liverpool boasts an active LGBTQ+ fan club called the Kop Outs. If Bezos buys into Liverpool, he’ll likely hear from them.
Back when Obama was in the White House, Bezos pledged $2.5 million to support same-sex marriage rights. At the time, that made Bezos and his now-ex-wife Mackenzie Scott among the largest financial backers of gay marriage in the country.
But as Tr*mp returned to the White House, Bezos followed the political tide in pursuit of even more profit. Shortly after Tr*mp’s inauguration, Amazon removed all statements supporting LGBTQ+ rights and racial equity from its public pages, as well as any mentions of transgender people.
Bezos has also tilted the Washington Post’s op-ed page in an anti-LGBTQ+ direction, publishing many columns decrying trans participation in sports.
During the 2024 election, Bezos spiked the paper’s planned endorsement of Kamala Harris, whose record on trans issues became a campaign flashpoint.
Launched in 2011, the Kop Outs have fought for LGBTQ+ inclusion long before it was en vogue. Their founder told Outsports they want queer allies to “take forward their allyship to a level of activism to make bigots the uncomfortable minority.”
Bezos, one of the richest and most powerful people in the world, has done the opposite.
“Legitimate calls for alarm”
Overall, Bezos’ piggish ethos stands in stark contrast to Liverpool. A port city in Britain’s Northwest corner, Liverpool has a strong working class history.
A Liverpool reporter told the Daily Beast he expects there to be a stark divide among fans regarding Bezos’ potential involvement.
“This is a very socialist city,” he said. “We have very strong beliefs about the way things should be done, right and wrong. I think there will be pushback. I think there will be some anger in certain quarters.”
The Kop Outs share those strong beliefs. The group has recently railed against John Henry for annual ticket price rises.
If they think that’s bad, just wait until they find out how Amazon treats its warehouse workers…
Dan Clubbe, the Liverpool reporter, thinks Bezos’ MAGA persona is a horrible match.
“I’m absolutely convinced that there would be genuine and legitimate calls for alarm and a genuine and legitimate pushback and negative response to this ownership group,” he added.
Throughout history, queer people have led the charge against right-wing oligarchs. We expect the situation with Bezos and Liverpool to play out similarly.
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