political football

noun

: an issue that politicians argue about and try to use for their advantage

This issue is too important to be treated as a political football.

Examples of political football in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Unfortunately, this issue has been allowed to morph into a political football. —

Laura Gersony, The Arizona Republic, 9 July 2024 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 History Ending the car tax has been a political football for more than 30 years. —

Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, 13 June 2024 Yet the November cut remains and funding for cultural organizations remains a political football in the budget debate. —

Coco Killingsworth, New York Daily News, 26 Apr. 2024 See all Example Sentences for political football

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.

Cite this Entry

Style

“Political football.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/political%20football. Accessed 26 Jul. 2024.

Copy Citation