House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries apparently thought he had found the perfect New York gotcha: question Donald Trump’s loyalty to the Knicks in front of a basketball-crazy city.
There was just one problem.
The attack collapsed faster than a fourth-quarter meltdown.
Jeffries tried to paint Trump as some clueless outsider who suddenly discovered the Knicks because they’re in the NBA Finals. But anyone who has spent more than five minutes paying attention to New York over the last several decades knows Trump has been around the Knicks scene longer than some of the politicians now lecturing the public about basketball.
Trump attended Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden as the San Antonio Spurs edged the Knicks 115-111. New York still held a 2-1 series lead afterward, but the bigger political story was the spectacle of Democrats once again firing off a headline-grabbing attack without bothering to check the receipts.
When Trump was recently asked about his favorite players on the current roster, he rattled off names and observations that sounded a lot more informed than the caricature his critics were trying to sell.
And for anyone still confused about whether Trump has a history with the franchise, the photo archive tells a story of its own.
There are images of Trump with Knicks legend Charles Oakley. There are photos of Trump congratulating Hall of Fame center Patrick Ewing during the franchise’s glory years. These aren’t the actions of somebody who suddenly jumped on a bandwagon because the team made the Finals.
Yet Jeffries decided to launch the attack anyway.
The result? Many fans online ended up questioning Jeffries’ own basketball credibility. Critics pointed out that while he was busy accusing Trump of being a fake fan, he was sporting what looked suspiciously like a brand-new Knicks cap. Fair or not, social media immediately went to work, with posters joking that Jeffries looked more like a playoff-season convert than the man he was trying to mock.
Instead of advancing a compelling agenda, Dems seem determined to spend their time arguing over whether a lifelong New Yorker knows enough about the Knicks.
Meanwhile, Trump’s appearance at Madison Square Garden generated exactly the kind of reaction that follows him everywhere: loud supporters, loud critics, and a media frenzy trying to measure every cheer and every boo.
During the national anthem, Trump appeared on the Garden’s video board alongside granddaughter Kai Trump and Knicks owner James Dolan. The crowd responded with a mixture of cheers and boos, creating the kind of chaotic New York soundtrack that has followed Trump for decades.
The White House press pool described the reaction as heavily negative. Trump, unsurprisingly, had a different interpretation.
“You mean when they had the camera on me?” Trump said afterward when asked about the crowd’s response. “I thought it was very good, yeah. It was certainly amazing. It was, I think, mostly cheers.” The president added: “It was loud and it was very enthusiastic.”
The security operation surrounding the presidential visit transformed the area around Madison Square Garden into a fortress, with fencing, road closures, Secret Service personnel, and heightened screening measures creating long lines for fans trying to enter the arena.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch explained the decision to cancel planned watch parties near the Garden, saying: “The NYPD in coordination with the Secret Service made the decision for Game 3, where we have a presidential visit, that we could not support watch parties right outside of the Garden. We are looking forward to bringing back watch parties for Game 4. But I think New Yorkers are used to presidents coming to town, and they understand that that generally means lockdowns of areas and that’s what you’re going to see tonight at the Garden.”
Madison Square Garden officials later disputed suggestions that Trump’s visit was solely responsible for the watch-party changes, adding another twist to an already chaotic evening.
Outside the arena, thousands of Knicks fans gathered at alternate viewing locations. Some celebrations and gatherings reportedly turned unruly, requiring police intervention as crowds swelled.
As for the game itself, Trump described it simply as “fantastic.”
“Well played by both teams,” he said. “We all had a lot of fun. It was great to watch. Very talented players.”
In the end, Jeffries’ attempted slam dunk turned into another political blooper. The congressman tried to challenge Trump’s New York credentials on a subject where Trump arguably has decades of public evidence on his side. For a politician hoping to score points, it was the equivalent of launching a half-court heave with nobody guarding him — and still missing the rim.
