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New York Giants coach John Harbaugh has a chance to resolve the controversy surrounding Jaxson Dart’s appearance at President Donald Trump’s rally Friday afternoon because 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 will surely be asked about his starting quarterback’s apparent embrace of the president.
And the coach, who is the undisputed epicenter of power within the franchise since he was hired in January, will give his opinion and that will be that. Because whatever he decrees, the players will do the same. The main office will do the same. And the media, whether they agree or not, will have to report on what the most important voice in the organization has decided.
So this saga is approaching a climax.
ABDUL CARTER DELETES CRITICISM OF JAXSON DART FOR TRUMP RALLY
NFL quarterback Jaxson Dart hugs President Donald Trump during a Fighting For American Workers event in Suffern, New York, on May 22, 2026. (Ryan Murphy/AP)
Do you have your popcorn ready?
Scheduled availability at 2:30 pm ET (yes, around lunchtime for some) can be quite satisfactory.
That leads to the next logical question: What is Harbaugh going to say? How are you going to face your first crisis, no matter how small and not related to football, with your new club?
We have an idea based on experience of knowing how Harbaugh operates and what he believes. But before you share that, understand that the coach really only has a handful of options to choose from.
SUPER BOWL CHAMPION JOE THEISMANN HEARS THE IMPACT OF THE JAXSON DART-ABDUL CARTER TRUMP CONTROVERSY IN THE LOCKER ROOM
Harbaugh could:
- Okay, Jaxson Dart was wrong to agree to introduce the president of the United States at a rally and lead the crowd in a chant of “Go Big Blue.”
- I agree that Abdul Carter was wrong to criticize his teammate on social media in posts that the edge rusher has since deleted.
- Granted, this is a team issue and has been handled internally without offering further details, meaning the narratives that the media, pundits, former players and social networks crave to keep content flowing will be left without oxygen.
- Or Harbaugh could be more nuanced.
NFL quarterback Jaxson Dart introduces President Donald Trump during a Fighting For American Workers event in Suffern, New York, on May 22, 2026. ((Ryan Murphy/AP))
Let’s choose the last one.
There’s no chance Harbaugh will throw Dart under the bus. It’s just not going to happen.
First, and most importantly, he is not going to break the man he needs most to succeed as a player and team leader. Second, Harbaugh agrees with Dart on most things about Trump.
People seem to forget this.
JOHN HARBAUGH REJECTS REPORTER WHO HATES TRUMP AFTER WHITE HOUSE VISIT
Much of the Harbaugh clan — Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh, his father and mother, his sister and their four children — visited Trump at the White House last year.
Afterward, the Harbaughs spoke enthusiastically about the visit. And when things got a little ugly in Baltimore because a left-wing journalist accused John Harbaugh of meeting with someone who had said bad things about the city, the coach responded eloquently.
So that same man can’t logically criticize his starting quarterback for also meeting with Trump.
It will be interesting to what extent, if any, Harbaugh criticizes Carter by name.
Look, the coach is almost certainly going to preach about keeping team business within team boundaries. Carter broke that pact by making it public on social media. But there is a way to make this point without embarrassing Carter and turning him into a villain. That wouldn’t help anyone interested in Carter growing into a major contributor on defense.
Therefore, the coach will almost certainly walk a fine line between saying the team’s business is sacrosanct without shining an investigative light on an important player.
Finally, prepare yourself for this: If Harbaugh finds any blame in all of this, it will probably be you: the nosy public, the curious media, the opinionated influencers.
You are all the bad guys.
New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart greets President Donald Trump during a Fighting For American Workers event in Suffern, New York, on May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
Not his players, not his team, not his new family. You made this a thing, not the Giants.
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That, of course, wouldn’t work well here in the real world. But Harbaugh doesn’t care about that. He cares about his world, which is where the Giants’ practice facility is located, where his players work, and where Harbaugh’s success or failure as a coach is defined.
Tune in at 2:30 p.m.
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