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New York Giants coach John Harbaugh will get a chance to settle the controversy surrounding Jaxson Dart’s appearance at a President Donald Trump rally on Friday afternoon, as he will speak to reporters for the first time since the issue began sucking all the oxygen out of the team’s offseason program.
Harbaugh is sure to be asked about his starting quarterback’s apparent embrace of the president.
And the coach, the undisputed epicenter of power in the franchise since he was hired in January, will speak his mind and that will be it. Because whatever he decrees, the players will follow suit. The reception will follow suit. And the media, agree or not, will have to report what the most consequential voice in the organization has decided.
So this saga is coming to a climax.
ABDUL CARTER DELETES CRITICISM OF JAXSON DART OVER TRUMP RALLY
NFL quarterback Jaxson Dart hugs President Donald Trump during a Fighting For American Workers event in Suffern, NY, on May 22, 2026. (Ryan Murphy/AP)
Do you have your popcorn ready?
The planned availability at 2:30 PM ET – well, around lunchtime for some – can be quite satisfying.
That leads to the next logical question: What will Harbaugh say? How will he handle his first crisis, however minor and non-football related it may be, with his new club?
We have an inkling based on experience of knowing how Harbaugh operates and what he believes. But before we share it, understand that the trainer really only has a handful of options to choose from.
SUPER BOWL CHAMPION JOE THEISMANN WEIGHS IMPACT OF JAXSON DART-ABDUL CARTER TRUMP CONTROVERSY ON CLOSET
Harbaugh could:
- Agreed Jaxson Dart made a mistake by agreeing to introduce the President of the United States at a rally and lead the crowd in a “Go Big Blue” cheer.
- Agreed that Abdul Carter was wrong to call out his teammate on social media in posts that the edge rusher has since deleted.
- Agree this is team business and it has been handled internally without further details, meaning the narratives the media, pundits, ex-players and social media crave to keep content flowing will be suffocated for all oxygen.
- Or, Harbaugh could be more nuanced.
NFL quarterback Jaxson Dart introduced President Donald Trump during a Fighting For American Workers event in Suffern, NY on May 22, 2026. ((Ryan Murphy/AP))
We choose the last one.
There is no way Harbaugh is throwing Dart under the bus. It’s simply not going to happen.
First, and most importantly, he doesn’t get in the kneecaps of the man he most needs to succeed as a player and team leader. Second, Harbaugh agrees with Dart on most things Trump.
People seem to forget this.
JOHN HARBAUGH PUSHES BACK AT TRUMP-HATING REPORTER AFTER WHITE HOUSE VISIT
Much of the Harbaugh clan — Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh, their father and mother, their sister and four children — visited Trump at the White House last year.
Afterwards, the Harbaughs spoke enthusiastically about the visit. And when things got a little ugly in Baltimore because a left-wing reporter accused John Harbaugh of meeting with someone who had said bad things about the city, the coach eloquently pushed back.
So the same man cannot logically criticize his starting quarterback for also meeting Trump.
It will be interesting to what degree, if any, Harbaugh is critical of Carter by name.
Look, the coach is almost certainly going to preach keeping team business within the confines of the team. Carter broke that pact by going public on social media. But there is a way to make the point without embarrassing Carter and making him a villain. That wouldn’t help anyone interested in seeing Carter grow and become a major contributor on defense.
So the coach will almost certainly walk a fine line between saying team business is sacrosanct without casting an investigative spotlight on an important player.
Finally, brace yourself for this: If Harbaugh finds any fault in all of this, it will likely be on you — the curious public, the nosy media, the opinionated influencers.
In all the wicked.
New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart greets President Donald Trump during a Fighting For American Workers event in Suffern, NY on May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
Not his players, his team, his new family. You made this a thing, not the giants.
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Of course, that wouldn’t play well out here in the real world. But Harbaugh doesn’t care. He cares about his world, which is where the Giants’ practice facility is, where his players work, and where Harbaugh’s success or failure as a coach is defined.
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