Conservative political commentator Candace Owens has defended Brittany Mahomes after she faced backlash for liking an Instagram post from U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump.

This comes after followers of Mahomes, the wife of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, noticed she had allegedly liked a post that outlined the Republican Party’s platform for the 2024 election, including deporting “pro-Hamas radicals” and keeping “men out of women’s sports.”

Screenshots and a screen-recorded video indicated Mahomes liked the post, but according to a review by Newsweek, her account is no longer among the current “likes” on the post. Amid the negative response she received, the former soccer player condemned “haters” in a post on her Instagram story.

Now Owens, a conservative political commentator, has stood up for Mahomes during an episode of her Candace podcast. She argued that Mahomes should be able to like whatever post she wants, especially during an election season.

Newsweek emailed spokespeople for Mahomes and Owens for comment on Wednesday.

Brittany Mahomes (left) and Candace Owens (right). Owens defended Mahomes during an episode of her podcast. Taylor Hill/Jason Davis/FilmMagic/Getty Images
“Brittany Mahome has an attitude. She doesn’t care [that social media is angry], and I am here for it,” Owens said at the beginning of the podcast.

Later in the episode, Owens expanded on her thoughts, criticizing those who came after Mahomes.

“Britney Mahomes is under fire, uh, because she liked a Trump post, it’s like a thing right now, I guess. You’ve gotta love Hollywood. We’re so accepting. We just love everyone. Love is love, love, love,” she joked.

“Let someone like a post, which they’re allowed to do because it’s an election and you are not required to vote one way or the other. And that’s what Brittany Mahomes did, she sure stepped in it, she apparently liked a Trump post.

“This is the post that she has, that she liked, and has since unliked because she has received so much heat for it.”

In case some listeners weren’t aware of the situation, Owens explained who Mahomes is as well as the post that she allegedly liked from Trump’s Instagram account.

She continued: “So she liked this post. I think she just said, ‘Hey, I agree with, maybe not all, maybe some, maybe a few of these policy points.'”

“Given the fact that she’s from the South this certainly doesn’t stress me out or shock me but you know, people that live in the bubbles like on the coast, really do believe that everybody thinks like them. They just can’t imagine—or, or they think people in the South are all backwards and all racist.

“So I guess they were, they were shocked by this and one user wrote ‘Brittany Mahomes just outed herself as a Trump supporter.’ Gosh, what are we going to do with her?

“Another user wrote ‘Patrick Mahomes imagine marrying someone who doesn’t care about your rights and your kid’s rights. Britney Mahomes agreeing with Project 2025 but married to a black man with mixed kids is insane.”

Owens went on to show her support for Project 2025, saying those who “freak out about Project 2025, they’re just bots.”

The project was created by the conservative Heritage Foundation as a handbook detailing policies for a possible next Republican president. Among the items on the list are expanding the control of the presidency and withdrawing the abortion pill mifepristone from the market.

It also proposes sweeping changes to remake the federal government, including planning for the Department of Education and the Department of Homeland Security to be dismantled.

When Mahomes faced the initial backlash from people, she wrote on her Instagram story: “To be a hater as an adult, you have to have some deep-rooted issues you refuse to heal from childhood. There’s no reason your brain is fully developed and you hate to see others doing well.”

She has never publicly expressed her support for any candidate in this election or any other and has never liked any other post from Trump. She also does not follow the Republican on Instagram.

Nonetheless, her reported like on the post provoked a flurry of criticism from her followers and fans of Taylor Swift who began following Mahomes after Swift started dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce last year.