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The New York Giants quarterback, Jaxson Dart, has received major backlash after announcing Donald Trump at a recent rally, and people are calling out the hypocrisy of those who say to "keep politics out of sports." Here's everything you need to know — including what Jaxson's teammate had to say, and what Trump thinks about the criticism.
In case you missed it, the second-year quarterback of the NFL's New York Giants, Jaxson Dart, was recently a guest announcer for Trump at a New York rally. At the podium, he says, "What an honor, what a privilege it is to be here... And, without further ado, I'm grateful, I'm honored, I'm pleasured to introduce the 45th and 47th President of the United States of America: President Donald J. Trump."
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Bloomberg / Bloomberg via Getty Images
And NFL fans — including Giants fans — were not pleased. One user reacted, "being a young unproven QB in NYC and choosing to do this might be the biggest self inflicted publicity mistake I have seen in a long time." While another said, "Never thought politics would be what killed my love for Giants football."
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X: @platinomsombrer / Via x.com
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One fan wrote, "As a lifelong, avid @Giants fan, I am beyond disappointed & flat out angry @JaxsonDart has chosen to align himself with an unhinged, racist, criminal, lunatic destroying our democracy. How is this going over with his teammates? This is a terrible look for the org."
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X: @TaraSetmayer / Via x.com
Well, among those surprised by Jaxson's appearance was his teammate and linebacker, Abdul Carter, who was also drafted last year. In a now-deleted post, Abdul reacted to the video of Jaxson at the Trump rally, saying, "thought this **** was AI, what we doing man."
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X: @1NCRDB1 / @FearedBuck / @AaronRupar / Via x.com / x.com
Some people questioned Abdul's public reaction to the situation. One X user said, "The locker room is a sacred place because it brings together everyone from all walks of life and beliefs for one common goal. Calling a teammate out publicly for his political views and to get attention is nasty work."
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X: @lt3kicks / Via x.com
But others came to Abdul's defense, calling out the double standard. "Yall are more mad at Abdul calling out his teammate than his teammate openly supporting a racist, hateful, ignorant rapist. Nasty work," a user wrote.
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X / Via x.com
To highlight the hypocrisy of Jaxon Dart's situation, one X user referred to a time even further back, when Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, refused to stand for the national anthem as a protest to police brutality in 2016. "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color," Colin said in an interview. The former quarterback later ended up filing collusion grievances against the league, claiming he was blacklisted for his actions.
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X / Via x.com
"They celebrate our culture but turn a blind eye to our struggles," a user said on X. "Jaxson Dart meeting with someone aiming to erase Black history and Black representation is just another reminder: loving Black culture means nothing if you're silent or complicit about Black lives. #ProtectBlackHistory #CallItOut #HypocrisyIsThePoint #NFL."
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X: @BubbatheOG / @RealMamaEagle / Via x.com / x.com
Two days after Jaxson Dart's appearance at the Trump rally, NFL Media reported that the 23-year-old quarterback addressed the locker room about the situation and his decision to attend the event. Abdul Carter was not present at the meeting due to a religious obligation, but it's reported that other leaders on the Giants team, such as edge rusher Brian Burns and backup quarterback Jameis Winston, were participants in the conversation.
Three days after addressing the locker room, Jaxson Dart gave an official statement to the media after practice. "This was a unique opportunity, you know, being asked, and given the opportunity to introduce the president of the United States... Um, my thinking was pretty simple, in the fact of, you know, I've always loved this country," he starts. He continues to list the ways his family members have served in the US military.
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YouTube: New York Giants / Via youtube.com
"The president position has always been a position I've well respected, regardless of political affiliation, regardless of political party, and my intentions were just that," he explains. Jaxson then points out how politics can be a "sensitive topic," and that being the quarterback of the New York Giants comes with a lot of responsibility. He expresses how much he loves his teammates, the fans, the city, and others he's connected with. "That's the kind of person that I am," he says. "I'm a connector; I love making relationships with people; I love hearing everybody's stories and being someone who people can rely on to be there for them."
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YouTube: New York Giants / Via youtube.com
"Most importantly, I can say that I love every single one of my brothers, my teammates on this team, regardless of politics, regardless of religious beliefs, regardless of anything that may be different between us," he continues. "We have a cool opportunity, you know, as people, to be in a locker room where it's a melting pot of people from everywhere, and we get to be together. [...] We're able to learn from each other, to support each other, irrespective of the color of our skin."
You can watch Jaxson give his full statement here.
The same day, Abdul Carter also made a powerful statement. "I'm just gonna address this one time 'cuz we all wanna move past this and get over this like everybody do," Abdul starts. "So, first off, I wanna say that some things are bigger than football, and this is one of those things."
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YouTube: New York Giants / Via youtube.com
"Jaxson is one of our leaders — he's the face of our franchise; he not only represents himself with what he does, but he represents all of us, and that goes for anybody who wears a Giants uniform," he continues. "But if he chooses to align himself with a man like President Trump, it's my responsibility based on what I believe and what I stand on to not only show my teammates that I'm against that, but to show the world."
"And that doesn't mean that we have to spread hate," Abdul says. "It doesn't mean that me and Jaxson hate each other, or we have beef. I sit next to Jaxson every day. Every meeting, we're close, we talk. As long as we make sure we have the same goal as a team, and our goals align — which they do — then I feel like that's all that matters. I just wanna move past this."
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YouTube: New York Giants / Via youtube.com
People were pleased that Abdul did not "bend the knee" and still made his position on the matter clear.
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X: @TheSaurus831 / Via x.com
While others, despite trying to explain his actions, were not fully buying into Jaxon's statement, which notably lacked an apology. This X post, which has nearly 800k views, reads, "I always have an issue with anyone using veterans in their family as a shield for their own actions. [...] Dart (and now, the team, because of his selfish decision alone) will have to deal with this all season [...] Especially because you can be damn sure Trump will keep bringing it up. Trump will never let it go. Never."
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X: @PaulRieckhoff / Via x.com
And, well, Trump has continued talking about the situation. On Truth Social, he expressed, "I know you're taking some heat from the Radical Left Lunatics who are jealous of you, me, and everyone who surrounds us [...] YOU ARE A WINNER — THEY ARE ALL LOSERS. I'll see you in the White House!"
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Truth Social: @realDonaldTrump / Via truthsocial.com
Later, in a sit-down interview, Lara Trump asked the president what he thought of the backlash Jaxson was receiving, citing "Trump Derangement Syndrome." Trump responded, "I wish I looked just like Jaxson. This is a guy, I said, 'Is he a male model or what?' He's a handsome guy, like a beautiful guy, and you know, conservative guy. He said, 'I love you, sir.' After complimenting Jaxson's quarterback and leadership abilities, Trump continued, "So when Jaxson gets harassed a little bit, he's also loved more. Because we have more people than they do."
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YouTube: Fox News / Via youtube.com
Jaxson has not publicly responded to Trump.
Whether you're an NFL fan or not, what do you think about the situation? Me personally? My QB would never. Let us know your thoughts down in the comments.
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