ABC’s broadcast of the Tennessee vs Texas showdown experienced technical difficulties moments after explaining how Donald Trump’s appearance at Neyland Stadium could impact communications.The US president was in Knoxville to watch the Longhorns — the No. 1-ranked team in the nation with Arch Manning at quarterback — visit the No.14-ranked Volunteers.Trump was the high-profile guest at Neyland Stadium for Tennessee vs TexasAFPMuch was made of potential issues around coach-to-coach and coach-to-play radio communication in the buildup to the game, with reports claiming that every time the president moves, all stadium communications would be cut by the Secret Service.Early in ABC’s broadcast of the college football game, Laura Rutledge explained the situation to viewers.Tennessee vs Texas showdown disrupted by audio issues after discussing Donald Trump impact“I have confirmation from both teams, Texas and Tennessee, that they’ve worked with the Secret Service to make sure that their radio frequencies are cleared,” Rutledge explained.“They think that the comms should be perfectly okay coach-to-coach. The one concern they have is coach-to-player, but they have worked on all kinds of signaling if that does go down communication wise.“And sources close to the US Secret Service weren’t willing to make an official stance on this situation. They did tell me at major events like this there’s always going to be ‘electromagnetic deconfliction’.“Spectrum ‘deconfliction’ means coordinating radio frequency use — so systems needed for the event — can operate without interfering with one another.“And one other add here, if we notice that there’s a communication breakdown on the field, we can always take a TV timeout too.”Moments after Rutledge threw back to the booth, play-by-play announcer Chris Fowler and partner Kirk Herbstreit began to experience issues with their mics.The pair’s audio started to crackle, before cutting in and out. A lot of static, and their warped voices, made the broadcast unwatchable, and the issue went unresolved for several minutes.Fowler quickly noted to viewers that ABC was experiencing audio problems, and apologised.View Tweet: https://t.co/DAESHVhS7uAt one point, he could be heard asking Herbstreit to ‘be quiet for a minute’ as the broadcast worked to sort the issues.The audio issues came and went during the first and second quarter, but audio quality was restored by halftime.Fans react as ABC suffers ironic audio issuesIt’s unclear if Trump’s presence at Neyland Stadium actually caused ABC’s issues — but fans were quick to point out the irony on social media.“Hilarious that ABC is having audio problems right as they discuss how Trump’s presence can throw off the coaching staff’s radio communication,” one wrote on X.“Couldn’t have been scripted any better,” another said.“The most ironic moment I’ve seen on a sports broadcast in a minute,” a third wrote.It’s unsure if Trump’s appearance actually impacted ABC’s broadcast, but the irony wasn’t lost on viewersABCTennessee vs Texas was the biggest game on Saturday’s college slateA fourth joked: “The Secret Service has turned off Kirk Herbstreit.”“Talking about the comms right before the commentary having straight static is so good,” a fifth concluded.While ABC faced serious audio issues, fans were still able to watch the first half action unfold with no disruption to the picture quality.Arch Manning and the visiting Longhorns went into halftime with a 10-3 lead in Rocky Top.