DOCUMENT: Celebrity, Sports

Tebow Passed On Trump In Florida Primary

Former QB sat on sidelines during March GOP contest

View Document

Tebow & Trump

JULY 15--Tim Tebow is such a big Donald Trump fan that he did not even bother to vote for the multimillionaire in the recent Republican presidential primary in Florida, state records show.

In fact, the 28-year-old athlete, a Jacksonville resident, did not cast a ballot in the March 15 election, a major Trump victory (the presumptive Republican nominee crushed Senator Marco Rubio in his home state by more than 400,000 votes).

In the latest miscue by the Trump campaign, officials included Tebow’s name on a list of individuals scheduled to speak on the convention’s closing night, July 21, when Trump will address delegates gathered at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

Tebow’s appearance at the GOP convention, which was widely reported after The New York Times detailed the speaker list, was even promoted by Trump’s son Eric during an interview yesterday on the Fox Business Network.

But when word got back to Tebow that Trump had glommed onto his name, he posted a Facebook video declaring that the story was a “rumor.” In the face of Tebow’s mild rebuke, GOP spokesman Sean Spicer today confirmed that the ex-NFL quarterback (like Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger) will not be vouching for Trump in Cleveland.

Tebow is a registered Republican, according to Florida Department of State records that show the athlete joined the voter rolls three years ago. He has not voted since registering from his $1.4 million home in Jacksonville, where Tebow grew up.

Tebow, who has talked of one day considering a run for public office, recently was urged by some Republicans to run for the congressional seat being vacated this fall by Rep. Ander Crenshaw, whose district includes most of Jacksonville.

While Tebow passed on that House race, he noted in his Facebook video that his goal has always been “to make a difference in the biggest way possible” and “if one day that’s a political realm, that’s what I’ll do.” (2 pages)