{"id":13092,"date":"2026-05-23T20:19:50","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T20:19:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/05\/23\/abdul-carter-calls-out-jaxson-dart-for-introducing-trump-at-rally-what-we-doing-usa-today\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T20:19:50","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T20:19:50","slug":"abdul-carter-calls-out-jaxson-dart-for-introducing-trump-at-rally-what-we-doing-usa-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/05\/23\/abdul-carter-calls-out-jaxson-dart-for-introducing-trump-at-rally-what-we-doing-usa-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Abdul Carter calls out Jaxson Dart for introducing Trump at rally: &#8216;What we doing?&#8217; &#8211; USA Today"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Updated May 23, 2026, 3:33 p.m. ET<\/p>\n<div xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\">\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/football\/nfl\/teams\/new-york-giants\/351\" data-autotag=\"9402befb-12da-4b26-905a-81ab1fea0850\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\">New York Giants<\/a> quarterback <a href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/football\/nfl\/players\/jaxson-dart\/1286260\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\">Jaxson Dart<\/a> introduced President <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/news\/politics\/donald-trump\/\" data-autotag=\"26f031d1-9924-4f10-b4e6-019d076113d5\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\">Donald Trump<\/a> at a campaign-style rally for Republican Rep. Mike Lawler in Suffern, New York on Friday, May 22.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/nfl\/2026\/05\/22\/jaxson-dart-donald-trump-rally-introduction-new-york\/90224235007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\">Dart&#8217;s brief speech<\/a> drew criticism from one of his teammates \u2013 fellow 2025 first-round pick Abdul Carter \u2013 who questioned the quarterback&#8217;s decision to appear at the event.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Thought this (expletive) was AI,&#8221;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/1NCRDB1\/status\/2058138900187545756\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" data-t-l=\":b|z|k|\u2691u\">Carter wrote<\/a> in a May 23 social media repost of Dart&#8217;s introduction. &#8220;What we doing, man?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Dart didn&#8217;t immediately provide a public response to Carter&#8217;s social media grievance, and it isn&#8217;t clear whether he will.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, veteran Giants offensive tackle <a href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/football\/nfl\/players\/jermaine-eluemunor\/822364\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\">Jermaine Eluemunor<\/a> seemed to imply Carter&#8217;s jab wasn&#8217;t a big deal, telling the New York Daily News&#8217; Pat Leonard to &#8220;relax&#8221; in a social media conversation about the edge rusher&#8217;s original post.<\/p>\n<p>Eluemunor later said that the Giants&#8217; &#8220;locker room is fine&#8221; in a post directed at the Boston Globe&#8217;s Ben Volin.<\/p>\n<p>Dart spoke only briefly during the rally. He came out on stage with &#8220;Eye of the Tiger&#8221; blaring in the background before speaking for about a minute and giving way to Trump.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Big Blue nation, it&#8217;s a pleasure to be here,&#8221; Dart said, before leading the crowd in the Giants&#8217; &#8220;Go, Big Blue!&#8221; chant. &#8220;What an honor, what a privilege it is to be here and, without further ado, I&#8217;m grateful, I&#8217;m honored, I&#8217;m pleasured to introduce the 45th and 47th president of the United States of America, President Donald J. Trump.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Dart then shared a handshake and hug with Trump before the president began his speech by showering the 23-year-old quarterback with praise.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I want to thank Jaxson Dart,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;This is going to be a future Hall of Famer in my book. Thank you, thank you Jaxson. Lot of talent.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/picture-gallery\/sports\/nfl\/2026\/03\/06\/nfl-free-agency-trades-singings-tracker-2026\/89005564007\/\" data-t-l=\"\u2691g:l|l|c|view gallery:inline promo\" aria-label=\"View Gallery - 2026 NFL offseason tracker: Player signings, trades\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/gcdn\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/05\/11\/USAT\/90036024007-usatsi-27144586.jpg?crop=2996,1687,x0,y161&#038;width=660&#038;height=372&#038;format=pjpg&#038;auto=webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/gcdn\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/05\/11\/USAT\/90036024007-usatsi-27144586.jpg?crop=2996,1687,x0,y161&#038;width=1320&#038;height=744&#038;format=pjpg&#038;auto=webp 2x\" decoding=\"async\" alt width=\"660\" height=\"372\" previous-src=\"http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/gcdn\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/05\/11\/USAT\/90036024007-usatsi-27144586.jpg?crop=2996,1687,x0,y161&#038;width=660&#038;height=372&#038;format=pjpg&#038;auto=webp\"><svg><use xlink:href=\"http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/#gnt_svg_camera\" \/><\/svg><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The president referred to Dart throughout his speech when discussing his policy goals, including his desire to ban transgender athletes from competing in women&#8217;s sports.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m looking at Jaxson,&#8221;\u00a0Trump\u00a0said. &#8220;I\u2019d like to know, is there any woman in the audience that thinks they can tackle that guy? Because I&#8217;d like to meet you. I\u2019d like to shake your hand. I don\u2019t know. Jaxson, you think you can play against women OK?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Don\u2019t get involved Jaxson,&#8221; Trump added. &#8220;Don\u2019t answer that question.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Trump also referred to Dart as a &#8220;beautiful guy&#8221; with &#8220;legs like tree trunks&#8221; during his speech.<\/p>\n<figure><img fetchpriority=\"high\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/gcdn\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/05\/23\/USAT\/90231798007-jaxson-dart-donald-trumpp-052326.jpg?width=660&#038;height=440&#038;fit=crop&#038;format=pjpg&#038;auto=webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/gcdn\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/05\/23\/USAT\/90231798007-jaxson-dart-donald-trumpp-052326.jpg?width=1320&#038;height=880&#038;fit=crop&#038;format=pjpg&#038;auto=webp 2x\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"US President Donald Trump is welcomed by New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart before delivering a speech about the economy at Rockland Community College Fieldhouse in Suffern, New York, on May 22, 2026.\" previous-src=\"http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/gcdn\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/05\/23\/USAT\/90231798007-jaxson-dart-donald-trumpp-052326.jpg?width=660&#038;height=440&#038;fit=crop&#038;format=pjpg&#038;auto=webp\"><\/figure>\n<p>Dart is coming off a rookie season during which he started 12 games and posted solid numbers. The Ole Miss product had a 4-8 record while completing 63.7% of his passes for 2,272 yards, 15 touchdowns and five interceptions while adding 487 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground. He finished fourth in the NFL&#8217;s Offensive Rookie of the Year award voting.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Carter \u2013 the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft \u2013 posted 43 tackles, four sacks and two forced fumbles while finishing fifth in the Defensive Rookie of the Year voting.<\/p>\n<p>The two young Giants stars will have plenty of time to work out their differences ahead of the 2026 NFL season.<\/p>\n<p><em>USA TODAY Sports&#8217; Nick Brinkerhoff also contributed to this report<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Updated May 23, 2026, 3:33 p.m. ET New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart introduced President Donald Trump at a campaign-style rally for Republican Rep. Mike Lawler in Suffern, New York on Friday, May 22. Dart&#8217;s brief speech drew criticism from one of his teammates \u2013 fellow 2025 first-round pick Abdul Carter \u2013 who questioned the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13092\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}