New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart made an unannounced appearance Friday to introduce President Donald Trump at a campaign event for Representative Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), injecting a dose of star power into a critical swing-district race.
“What’s up, what’s up, what’s up. Look, Big Blue Nation it’s a pleasure to be here,” Dart told the crowd in Suffern, N.Y. “What an honor, what a privilege it is to be here.” He then introduced Trump as “the 45th and 47th president of the United States of America.”
Trump whispered something in Dart’s ear and shook his hand before the second-year quarterback left the stage. The president repeatedly called Dart back into the conversation during his speech, particularly when discussing his administration’s efforts to keep men out of women’s sports.
“I’m looking at Jaxson,” Trump said. “I’d like to know, is there any woman in the audience that thinks they can tackle that guy? Because I’d like to meet you. I’d like to shake your hand.” He added, “Jaxson, you think you can play against women, OK? … Don’t get involved Jaxson. Don’t answer that question.”
Trump praised Dart’s physique, calling him “beautiful” and saying his legs were “like tree trunks.” He argued, “This is not a good thing for women … That’s why I love having Jaxson, because it’s so easy. I just say, ‘How would you like to play against him?’”
The president also brought Dart into a discussion about the Democrats’ 2024 election “autopsy” report released Thursday. “It was called an autopsy. And they had typos, Jaxson, they had typos in every other sentence,” Trump said. “They had misspelled words. They had commas in the wrong location.”
Dart had not previously been publicly supportive of Trump, but he did speak out against the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk in September, calling Kirk’s work “great things for our country.” He joins a list of football players—including former running back Herschel Walker, now U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas; ex-linebacker Lawrence Taylor; 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa; and Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker—who have openly backed Trump.
The event underscores Trump’s focus on Lawler’s district, a competitive New York swing seat where the president is touting his economic record. However, internal GOP tensions have flared elsewhere, with Senator Thom Tillis blasting Trump’s “stupid stuff” as potentially damaging to Senate prospects, and Ted Cruz warning that Trump’s feuds could risk the GOP’s Senate majority.
