President-elect Donald Trump has tapped billionaire Warren Stephens to serve as the US Ambassador to the United Kingdom in a move that has outraged one particular group of people: fans of the New York Jets.
Stephens is the chairman of Stephens, Inc. – a privately held, independent financial services firm headquartered in his home state of Arkansas.
Stephens is a major donor to causes heralded by the Republican Party and also contributed to many of Trump’s SuperPACs over the years.
But why would fans of the New York Jets be so upset that an Arkansas businessman got the job? It’s because Trump’s last pick for UK Ambassador was Jets owner Woody Johnson.
Johnson was nominated as ambassador to the UK in November of 2017 – just over a year after Trump had been elected to the White House for the first time. He served in that position until the day that Joe Biden was inaugurated.
Because Trump is going with somebody else, Jets fans are outraged – as many of them had hoped that Johnson would be forced to give up control of the team like the last time.
President-elect Donald Trump has selected his choice for US Ambassador to the United Kingdom
Trump tabbed Arkansas billionaire businessman Warren Stephens to the position
New York Jets fans are livid by this pick as they hoped former UK Ambassador and team owner Woody Johnson would return to the post and would be forced to transfer control of the franchise
Throughout the season, the Jets have been one of the worst teams in the NFL and will not get themselves their first winning record since 2015.
Many fans had been hoping that Johnson would be picked as ambassador and would be forced to relinquish control of the team to his brother, Chris Johnson.
While Trump could very well pick Woody Johnson to be the ambassador somewhere other than the UK, Jets fans took to social media and did not take the news well.
‘Welp, looks like the Jets are stuck with Woody Johnson messing things up for 4 more years,’ wrote one user on X, formerly Twitter.
Another user posted, ‘Even Trump knows Woody is a useless idiot.’
‘There’s no hiding from the next 4 years of “sell the team” chants,’ another fan wrote. A different fan declared the appointment, or lack thereof, ‘a disaster for Jets fans. We needed him away from the football team.’
One fan tried to put things into perspective, saying, ‘Reading the disappointed replies and feeling the need to remind people that Chris Johnson was as bad, if not worse, than Woody.’
According to StatMuse, since Johnson purchased the Jets in 2000, the team has a record of 171-228 in the regular season and a 6-6 record in the playoffs across six appearances.
