Among the many topics that went viral on Twitter over the weekend was San Francisco 49ers rookie wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk’s touchdown run against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
Late in the first quarter, Aiyuk caught a pass and took off down the right side of the field, hurdling a defender to reach the end zone for a 38-yard score in one of the most electric plays of the 2020 NFL season thus far.
At least, President Donald Trump’s campaign thought enough of the highlight to share the meme late Monday after the president returned to the White House following his hospital stay due to coronavirus.
It also landed the campaign in copyright hot water.
The video Team Trump shared superimposed Trump’s head over Aiyuk, who sat for the national anthem before Sunday night’s game, as he was leaping over Philadelphia safety Marcus Epps. In the video, Epps’ head was pasted over with an image of the coronavirus. The video then cut to an anti-Trump protester’s reaction, via ITV News, to his 2017 inauguration.
Hours later, though, Twitter removed the video “in response to a report by the copyright owner.” It’s unclear which party — the league, one of the two teams, or ITV — reported the issue.
The Trump campaign, NFL and the 49ers did not immediately return USA TODAY’s requests for comment.
The Eagles defeated the 49ers 25-20 on Sunday.
Contributing: Josh Peter; David Jackson
Follow Chris Bumbaca on Twitter @BOOMbaca.
