Analyst says Jaxson Dart 'punted' on 'most important question' regarding Trump introduction
Jaxson Dart faced the music last week when he gave a statement in response to introducing President Donald Trump at an event in New York.
The New York Giants quarterback was invited to introduce Trump, and it prompted backlash from fans, media and even teammate Abdul Carter.
Nonetheless, Dart addressed the situation in an effort to put it in the past, yet in doing so, he received further backlash from Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio.
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Dart explained that he had a "unique opportunity" to introduce the president of the United States, and "the President position has always been a position that I've well respected, regardless of political affiliation, regardless of political party and, you know, my intentions were just that."
But Florio said that Dart "punted" on "the most important question" he was asked by the press — if he realized 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." "And well, ‘I’ll refer back to my statement,’ but your statement doesn’t address that. Your statement tries to make it apolitical. You can’t. It’s impossible to make that gesture at this moment, in this time, apolitical. Merely being there and introducing the president is a political statement.
"That’s where I think we need to be realistic, and anybody who would say 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 are we doing man?"
Dart added that he understands politics are "a sensitive matter" and that being the team's starting quarterback carries responsibility. Dart and Carter hugged it out after they spoke to the media about the ordeal.
"Stand on what you believe in. But it 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, it's all good," Carter said.
"I mean, we just talked," Dart added. "You know, me and Abdul came here at the same time. We shared a lot of very similar experiences. We've experienced adversity through a season and had to have each other's backs and that's exactly what we continued to do today."
Jameis Winston said he was "proud of" Dart and Carter "for having this conversation and getting in front of y'all and speaking what they would love.
"I'm proud of our team for understanding that we don't have to pick a side in this," he added.
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