Donald Trump Elected President Has Some Eagles Players ‘Shocked’ And ‘Concerned’

Malcolm Jenkins. (Jeff Fusco)

Malcolm Jenkins made it clear earlier this season that he’s not a supporter of Donald Trump. Jenkins cited Trump saying ‘borderline racist things’ and ‘crazy things about women’ as a few reasons why he didn’t like the Republican presidential nominee.

It wasn’t a surprise, then, to see that Jenkins ended up voting for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Jenkins talked more about his election choice in an interview with The MMQB.

Unfortunately for Jenkins, his vote did not go towards helping Clinton win the election. Clinton won the popular vote but she did not win the electoral vote. And thus, Trump is now the president-elect of the United States of America. It was an outcome that many Americans, Jenkins included, did not expect.

“A lot of it was a lot of disbelief,” said Jenkins. “A lot of people were obviously shocked. That’s pretty much it. Everybody’s just kind of waiting to see what will happen. I think a lot of people thought it would turn out a different way. But this is America and we’ll wait and see what happens.”

Trump’s election may not have been a surprise to everyone in the Eagles’ locker room. The veteran safety estimated 90 to 100% of the Eagles’ white players are in favor of Trump.

“Donald Trump is a divisive name in a locker room,” said Jenkins a little over a month ago. “A lot of guys will talk politics, but usually not about Trump. Those might get a little heated depending on who you’re talking to. … There’s some hardcore Trump fans in this locker room… which is fine.”

Jenkins told The MMQB that Clinton winning would have been a “sigh of relief” whereas a Trump victory meant “panic” for him. Jenkins explained why he’s worried about the country’s future.

“I think there’s a lot of concern,” said Jenkins. “I know for myself, you look at all the different things Trump has done over his entire campaign and this whole process, to now see him in the throne, in the seat, is nerve-racking for me. I know many people, many of friends I have [are] just kind of waiting to see what that looks like and if it’ll reflect anything of what he’s shown already. And if so, that’s very concerning.”

Though Jenkins expressed concern, he also seemed to respect the election’s results.

“Obviously, I voted the other way,” he said. “It’s still one of those times where … that’s what America’s all about. You get the chance to put your opinion out there and put your vote. America has spoken.”

Eagles receiver Jordan Matthews was also surprised by the election’s outcome. The 24-year-old pass catcher gave his own thoughts on Trump’s victory.

“I didn’t find out until this morning,” Matthews started. “I went to sleep. When I woke up I was like ‘What, for real? No way.’ And then I got to work and a couple guys maybe had talked about it. Obviously, I was kind of extremely shocked.”

“Even if you looked at the last couple of speeches, Trump’s kind of narrative was a lot of nostalgia. Talking about the kind of things he’d accomplished leading up to it. And then, it was still kind of like ‘if I don’t win, it’s rigged’ so he was already coming up with a plan. Well, it’s not rigged now, I guess. So that’s kind of funny to me.”

“And then obviously Hillary had kind of moved on to things she was planning on doing post-winning the election. So I think everything had set up and kind of looked like it was going to be Hillary. But I woke up and found out Donald won. So, definitely disbelief. But I think Malcolm hit on it. This is America. People have a choice. We’re going to have to live with our choice. So, hey, go with it.”