President Donald Trump gets a warm welcome at a college football game.

Crowd is all cheers at big game against LSU

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — President Donald Trump knew where to go Saturday for home field advantage, finding comfort in the Deep South with college football fans cheering two of the nation’s top teams — and him.

His reception at the showdown between Louisiana State and Alabama contrasted with the scene at Game 5 of the World Series in Washington, where he was booed, and the mixed response to his appearance at a UFC fight in New York.

Trump, sitting one tier above the field, waved as fans turned around to look up at the president. He smiled, gave a thumbs-up a few times and threw a couple of fist pumps into the air as the Alabama fans waved red and white pompoms in response. First lady Melania Trump got an equally enthusiastic welcome. The president left in the fourth quarter.

On the flight to Tuscaloosa, Trump tweeted jabs at House Democrats and the impeachment inquiry.

On the tarmac before boarding Air Force One, he told reporters: “It’s a witch hunt and it should never happen to another president.”

Alabama’s student government association warned students against being disruptive but said their First Amendment rights would not be muzzled.

LSU quarterback Joe Burrow said,

“Regardless of your political views, that’s pretty cool, having the president at the game.”

Trump has been enthusiastically supporting Republican businessman Eddie Rispone’s effort to unseat Louisiana’s incumbent Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards in the last governor’s race of the year. He attended a rally in Monroe, Louisiana, on Wednesday and he’ll be back in the state this coming week, two days before Louisiana voters have their say.

At the game, Trump sat in a box owned by businessman Jim Wilson. The president was joined by Louisiana Republican Reps. Clay Higgins, Mike Johnson, Ralph Abraham and Garret Graves; Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and Alabama Republican Reps. Robert Aderholt, Bradley Byrne and Gary Palmer.

John Bazemore The Associated Press President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, watch the Alabama-LSU football game Saturday in Tuscaloosa, Ala.