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Jaxson Dart faced the music last week when he made a statement in response to President Donald Trump’s appearance at an event in New York.
The New York Giants quarterback was asked to introduce Trump, prompting backlash from fans, media and even teammate Abdul Carter.
Nonetheless, Dart approached the situation with the goal of putting it in the past, but in doing so received further backlash from Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio.
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New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart greets President Donald Trump during a Fighting For American Workers event in Suffern, NY, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
Dart explained that he had a “unique opportunity” to introduce the president of the United States and that “the office of president has always been a position that I have greatly respected, regardless of political affiliation, regardless of political party and, you know, my intentions were exactly that.”
But Florio said Dart “answered” “the most important question” he was asked by the press — whether he understood why the decision to introduce Trump was controversial.
“That’s the only question that needed to be answered,” Florio said on Monday’s edition of “Pro Football Talk Live.” “Well, ‘I’m going to go back to my statement,’ but your statement doesn’t address that. Your statement is trying to make it apolitical. You can’t. It’s impossible to make this gesture right now, in this time, apolitical. Just being there and introducing the president is a political statement.
New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart and President Donald Trump attend an event inside Eugene Levy Fieldhouse at Rockland Community College in Suffern, NY, May 22, 2026. Trump spoke about his economic accomplishments in the congressional district represented by Rep. Mike Lawler, who is up for re-election in the November midterm elections. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg)
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“This is where I think we have to be realistic, and anyone who claims it’s not political is trying to advance their own agenda to excuse Dart and criticize Abdul Carter.”
Carter said on X that he thought a video of Dart and Trump was “AI,” adding, “What do we do, man?”
Dart added that he understands that politics is “a sensitive issue” and that being the team’s starting quarterback comes with responsibility. Dart and Carter hugged him after speaking to the media about the ordeal.
“Stop what you believe in. But that can’t be a problem when I stand on what I believe in. That’s all that matters to me. As long as we have that understanding, we’re fine,” Carter said.
“I mean, we just talked,” Dart added. “You know, Abdul and I came here at the same time. We shared a lot of very similar experiences. We experienced adversity throughout a season and had to support each other and that’s exactly what we continued to do today.”
Giants linebacker Abdul Quarter said there are no issues between him and quarterback Jaxson Dart after they made an appearance at an event featuring President Donald Trump. (Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images and Kevin R. Wexler-NorthJersey.com/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
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Jameis Winston said he was “proud of ‘Dart and Carter’ for having this conversation, getting in front of you and saying what they would like.
“I’m proud of our team for understanding that we don’t have to choose a side,” he added.
