Troy Carter

LSU football coach Lane Kiffin is facing criticism after he tagged President Donald Trump on X with a post that included an image of purple and gold “Make Baton Rouge Great” hats, before eventually deleting it.

The post received a mixed response on X, including some critical replies that likely contributed to Kiffin deciding to pull down the image that was a play on Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.

The decision to delete the post didn’t prevent critiques from U.S. Rep. Troy Carter and Roland Martin, who is a prominent journalist and radio show host.

Martin took to Instagram to criticize Kiffin for his original post.

“Black Parents: DO NOT let your kids play for @lsufootball. If so, their MAGA head coach @thereallanekiffin does BS like this,” Martin said in his post.

Carter, who represents the New Orleans area in Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District, offered his response to Kiffin’s post in a statement released Sunday morning.

“Recent attention around a political social media post by LSU head football coach Lane Kiffin has created an unnecessary distraction from what truly matters.

“College athletics should never be about slogans or division. It should be about the young men who have worked their entire lives to earn the opportunity to compete, grow, and represent their university with pride. Leadership matters. Words matter. And student-athletes should always come first.”

Kiffin, who left Ole Miss in November to take the LSU job, is active on social media, and is no stranger to causing a stir with a post to X. In June of 2025, he tagged Trump on the social media platform in a post that appeared to support Trump’s decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.