Jaxson Dart is the quarterback for the New York Giants. Fox News reports he introduced Trump at a rally in New York recently, and it is garnering mixed reactions from people in the sports and political media world.
“Go Big Blue! Go Big Blue! Go Big Blue! 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,” Dart said, in a video posted by Forbes.
Dart's teammate, linebacker Abdul Carter, took to social media to say that he thought the video was AI. With the realization it was not fake, Carter followed up by also saying, "What are we doing, man?"
According to Fox, Carter later said that he and Dart have cleared the air saying that they talked it out like men. They also report that Carter has since deleted his criticism of Dart from social media.
However, it appears people in the sports world, such as the Boston Globe's Ben Volin, think that Dart's actions have divided the locker room.
Social media is also divided on the issue. Some people say Carter was in the wrong for what he originally posted, and others are defending Carter while blaming Dart.
Clay Travis, founder of Outkick, posed a question on Fox News: would this even be a problem if it were a different president that was introduced by an NFL player?
“I asked Grok (AI chatbot), ‘Has any player been criticized for engaging with Barack Obama or Joe Biden in a similar fashion?’ No, it has never happened,” Travis states, in a video posted on X by Eric Daugherty, political commentator at Florida’s Voice.
Travis also said that he believes that most NFL players are supporters of the president.
“I think the majority of NFL players voted for President Trump, which the data reflects, so I think most guys in the locker room actually agree with what Jaxson Dart did,” Travis says.
He doubled down on both statements in is own X post.
The New York Giants have yet to release a statement on the situation.
