How to Use political football in a Sentence

political football

noun
  • Here are four things to know about this perennial political football.
    — Scott Horsley, NPR, 20 Dec. 2024
  • The facts did not matter to those using the board and my appointment as a political football.
    — Nina Jankowicz, Foreign Affairs, 7 Feb. 2024
  • Everyone wants to use it as a political football.
    — Darvio Morrow, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Aug. 2025
  • The disaster has become a political football amid a blame-game.
    — Michael Gfoeller and David H. Rundell, Newsweek, 14 Jan. 2025
  • Prior to that, the date of Thanksgiving was a bit of a political football.
    — Shelby Slade, The Arizona Republic, 19 Nov. 2024
  • But his death became a political football whose uses were difficult to foresee at the time.
    — Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 5 Mar. 2024
  • Cricket, clearly the most popular sport in both countries, was then once again used as a political football.
    — Tristan Lavalette, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
  • That's when the mission became a political football.
    — Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 5 Sep. 2025
  • That's when the mission became a political football.
    — Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 6 Sep. 2025
  • History Ending the car tax has been a political football for more than 30 years.
    — Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, 13 June 2024
  • Education has also been a political football recently, and what that looks like is going to vary from state to state.
    — Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 7 Mar. 2023
  • And the fact that desperately needed food and medicine has been made into a political football says as much about this moment as anything.
    — Philip Elliott, TIME, 10 Feb. 2025
  • Of course, there's plenty of political football being played in this stadium showdown.
    — Jim Reineking, USA Today, 8 June 2026
  • That may be surprising to some as the notion of alternative energy has been a political football for over a decade.
    — Jay Woods, CNBC, 2 Apr. 2026
  • The interplay of gas prices, gas taxes and roadway conditions is a perennial political football.
    — Dan Walters, Mercury News, 28 Mar. 2025
  • Mike Mussina became the voters’ next political football.
    — Tony Blengino, Forbes.com, 7 Jan. 2026
  • Instead, over the years, lawmakers have often used the polarizing issue as a political football.
    — Gillian Brassil, Sacramento Bee, 4 June 2024
  • This series and another documentary led the Menendez case to once again become a political football.
    — Kevin Dolak, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
  • Unfortunately, this issue has been allowed to morph into a political football.
    — Laura Gersony, The Arizona Republic, 9 July 2024
  • Matches between the countries affects the national psyche of the countries and used as a political football by the warring governments.
    — Tristan Lavalette, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024
  • It was extended to government debt broadly in 1939, and thus became a political football.
    — Jason Linkins, The New Republic, 13 May 2023
  • And how about the other political football, diversity and inclusion?
    — Andrew Winston, Fortune, 14 Aug. 2024
  • Teams are also preparing for reactive scenarios — such as how to respond if they get roped into a culture war, used as a political football or singled out in an X post.
    — Eleanor Hawkins, Axios, 21 Nov. 2024
  • The air traffic control system needs both more investment and smarter investment — not to be turned into another deflating political football.
    — New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 18 May 2025
  • Is there a way to avoid this becoming just another political football and really re-emphasize security best practices?
    — Obed Manuel, NPR, 27 Mar. 2025
  • The decision will surely become a political football during this wild political season.
    — Robert Litan, Foreign Affairs, 16 Mar. 2016
  • The core problem is that border enforcement has become a political football rather than a law-enforcement and national-security problem.
    — David Ignatius, Washington Post, 26 June 2024
  • Doing something about low reading scores was a political football for years until, just recently, the state finally declared a preference for using phonics to teach reading — a rare bit of progress.
    — Dan Walters, Mercury News, 21 Mar. 2026
  • Abrego Garcia, a father of three, has turned into a political football after his mistaken deportation to a prison for terrorists in March.
    — Phillip M. Bailey, USA Today, 12 Dec. 2025
  • Unfortunately, that market could continue to be a political football.
    — Peter Cohan, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'political football.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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