President Donald Trump was booed by the crowd at Madison Square Garden during the National Anthem at Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs. As the anthem played, ABC cameras captured the President saluting in his suit. The crowd reacted loudly; this marked the only time Trump appeared on screen during the introduction. A crowd outside the arena also booed his motorcade upon arrival.Trump attended the Knicks' first home game with son-in-law Jared Kushner and administration officials, including Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and EPA head Lee Zeldin. Trump's attendance disrupted the fan experience significantly: the official watch party was relocated to Bryant Park to accommodate additional security measures, and attendees were required to arrive several hours before tip-off due to heightened security protocols.Watch the video below. Your browser does not support the video tag.
President Donald Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to attend an NBA Finals game at Madison Square Garden Monday night and was met with sustained booing both outside the arena and during the National Anthem broadcast. In his podcast "Another Day," progressive YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen criticized Trump's attendance as selfish, arguing the President habitually makes moments about himself. Cohen noted Trump prioritizes attending sporting events while New Yorkers face serious challenges. "Now, to be fair, I understand why he'd want to do this. When you see a sporting event that allows you to apply only one extra color of paint to your face, you want to jump on it immediately." Said Cohen, adding, "But that feels like a pretty small win compared to the pretty big losses that New Yorkers are experiencing."Trump's attendance created significant inconvenience for ordinary fans: the Knicks moved the watch party from outside the stadium to Bryant Park, and fans experienced two-hour security delays entering the arena. Some attendees urged Trump to "stay home." Cohen characterized Trump's decision as emblematic of misplaced priorities, questioning the president's genuine concern for New Yorkers despite his former Manhattan residence.Currently, Trump's approval ratings are declining ahead of midterm elections, during which Democrats could gain control of Congress. Watch the video below. Your browser does not support the video tag.
New York Knicks fans were among the loudest of any in their reaction to President Trump's appearance at the NBA Finals on Monday night.There was one hurdle that Trump supporters in the building seemingly had to overcome though — their fellow Knicks fans.'He's a genuine Knicks fan.'The president attended Game 3 of the NBA Finals amid heightened security at Madison Square Garden in New York City, with the hometown Knicks hosting the San Antonio Spurs.When the president made his first appearance on the in-arena big screen, it looked like Trump being the first sitting POTUS to attend an NBA Finals was not going over well with fans. A mixture of jeers and boos chorused through the building as Trump was shown alongside his granddaughter Kai during the national anthem; both of them smirked at the reaction.However, as the night went on, Trump seemed to gain a bit more favorability, especially when the New York Fire Department made its way onto the court for a presentation.The crowd erupted into chants of "USA! USA!" as the president pumped his fist along with some of the patriots in attendance. RELATED: LA Dodgers pitcher refuses to comply with Pride Night, enraging progressive fans The crowd seemed to cheer for the president later in the game when he was shown on-screen with Knicks owner James Dolan, but it is difficult to tell if the images of Trump shown on television were what garnered the reaction from fans.Regardless of their support for the president, Knicks fans went home upset after their team lost 115-111, with the Spurs cutting into the Knicks' series lead, which now sits at 2-1.Chaos filled the streets after the game, and fights broke out despite a heavy NYPD presence. New Yorkers also seemed to target Spurs fans with violence, according to multiple videos posted on X. One younger male had his Spurs jersey ripped off of him, while an older man in a Spurs jersey was chased by a group of fans who were throwing objects at him.RELATED: The NBA is finally going with a pro-America stance: 'We're proud' - YouTube Before the game, there was plenty of contentiousness surrounding Trump's appearance, with multiple New York Democrats questioning his support for the team.Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said it wasn't clear to him that Trump was a real fan, while New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) suggested Trump couldn't name the "1993 championship team," which is a strange reference as the Knicks did not win the Eastern Conference or the NBA Finals that year.NBA Commissioner Adam Silver cleared up some of the controversy in an interview with ESPN when he said Trump was invited to the game by the Knicks owner, and he even described the president as a "fixture at Madison Square Garden" in the past."Back in the old days, he had courtside seats. He was here all the time. He was at the draft. So he's a genuine Knicks fan," Silver stated. Regarding Trump attending the game, the commissioner concluded, "I think we should be using sports to create more of a sense of community with people, not less."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
WASHINGTON — Cracks in President Donald Trump’s stranglehold on the GOP — and the 119th Congress — went on full display at the U.S. Capitol this month as the House of Representatives sent the White House a defiant message.Last week, 18 Republicans voted to approve a Ukraine aid package opposed by the White House. It came after four Republicans supported a measure calling for the removal of U.S. troops from Iran unless Congress votes to authorize that war. The rare presidential rebukes revealed tension in the GOP, with Republicans now openly attacking other Republicans.“To lessen the president's hand, I think, was inappropriate,” Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) told Raw Story at the Capitol. “I don't think they were thinking.” Still, Democrats aren’t doing any end zone dances just yet.Now that Israel and America have been at war with Iran for longer than 60 days, Trump and his allies are re-packaging it.“Really, at this point, it’s a blockade, and more than anything, we are ensuring safe transit and making sure that there’s freedom of navigation,” Zinke, who served as Interior Secretary in Trump’s first term, told Raw Story.Zinke shares the president’s frustration with the 226-195 vote reasserting congressional control of the conflict."It's tragic,” Zinke said. “Do you think those Republicans who crossed over were looking at November?” Raw Story asked. “I don't think they were thinking,” Zinke said of his GOP colleagues who crossed the aisle. While Zinke says he agreed with the premise of the Iran measure — that Congress has the ultimate say on matters of war and peace — he says now isn’t the time for Congress to be tying the president’s hand."I agree with the underlying premise, but I also agree that Iran can't have a nuclear weapon," Zinke said. "They can't have an arsenal of destruction. They can't have nuclear material. So I'm giving the president a little latitude on this one." Since Trump re-entered the White House last January, Republicans on Capitol Hill have given his administration broad leeway on everything from tearing down the White House's historic East Wing to letting Elon Musk and DOGE — Department of Government Efficiency — rescind billions of dollars Congress itself had approved. While the Iran measure is largely symbolic, it did reveal growing unrest with the conflict. “I guess, maybe, it’s just a little bit of frustration,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) told Raw Story just off the House floor. “We had really good combat operations, but now we've had two months of, I don't know, it seems like a little bit of indecision being made.”Bacon’s retiring at the end of this term and tends to be more moderate on many issues, but he actually voted with the president on Iran — though he’s not judging his GOP colleagues who bucked Trump. “I think we grapple with this. I want to see us win. Iran's terrible. I would hate to tie the president's hands right now,” Bacon said. “But I understand the other side of the position, too.”Ukraine’s a different story, though.On Thursday last week, 18 Republicans — including Bacon — voted with Democrats to authorize $8 billion in loans to Ukraine and America’s NATO allies. “It’s Congress saying, ‘hey, we’ve got a different opinion,’” Bacon said. “And, by the way, 70 percent of the American people want more support for Ukraine. I think it's important for him to hear that.”The measure’s future is in doubt now that it’s been sent to the GOP-controlled Senate, but Trump’s growing number of congressional critics say this week was important because, if nothing else, it showed a restive American public that Congress is more than a rubber stamp, at least in theory. “Do you think that raises awareness to the public?” Raw Story asked Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI). “Some,” Dingell told Raw Story while walking to the Capitol this week. “Yeah.”“They should be worried going into the election,” Dingell said. “People are unhappy right now with energy costs. Gasoline prices have risen dramatically.”That’s why Democrats are glad Congress finally stood up to Trump. “It's important for Congress to insert itself,” Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA) told Raw Story. Still, with Trump’s success in recent GOP primary contests, Democrats aren’t expecting the president’s grip on congressional Republicans to let up ahead of this year’s midterms. “He can ignore it. He can do whatever he wants,” Bera said. “A lot of my colleagues will echo what the president's saying.”
MS NOW host Rachel Maddow lavished in New York City’s “warm welcome” of President Trump, as she repeatedly played clips of Knicks fans booing the president at Madison Square Garden Monday evening ahead of Game 3 of the NBA Finals.
