By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2026-06-09 16:25:48 | Updated at 2026-06-10 23:57:13
1 day ago
MS NOW's Rachel Maddow and Jonathan Lemire both took President Donald Trump to task while reacting to his attendance at Game 3 of the NBA Finals in Manhattan on Monday.
Maddow, 53, offered her two cents while the game was still on, during her 9pm broadcast. She homed in on the negative reception Trump received both inside and outside Madison Square Garden.
A clip of Trump's motorcade being booed was played, not once but twice.
'Big New York welcome to President Donald Trump at the Knicks-Spurs NBA Finals game. Trump likes to claim New York loves him. New York does not,' Maddow said as the clip wrapped for the first time.
She then giddily gave her audience an encore.
'Do you want to see him arriving at the garden one more time? Just one more time? Here it is,' she teased.
'Donald Trump being lustily booed when he arrived at the venue tonight in New York.'
Maddow went on to prepare another clip - this one of Trump getting booed 'inside the venue, when people spotted him during the National Anthem,' she said.
'Just gotta smile through it,' the host quipped, speaking from the President's perspective.
Maddow, 53, offered her two cents while the game was still on during her 9pm broadcast
A clip of the president's motorcade being booed as it arrived at Manhattan's Madison Square Garden was played, not once but twice
Maddow, at another point, accused Trump of 'pretend[ing] to be a basketball fan' and 'making [New Yorkers] all come to the game hours early, forcing everyone to go through tons of extra screening.'
'Even though he’s only ever talked trash about the NBA and doesn’t appear to have been an actual fan at all, at least for decades,' Maddow said.
When asked about the reception, the White House pointed to President Trump's remarks when asked about the loud reception on the tarmac of John F Kennedy airport on the way back to Washington.
'I thought it was very good, yeah. It was certainly amazing. It was, I think, mostly cheers,' said Trump, who was the first sitting president to attend an NBA final.
'It was loud and it was very enthusiastic.'
The following morning, the Morning Joe team reacted to the Knicks hard-fought loss to San Antonio.
Host Jonathan Lemire noted how the Knicks' had a 13-game winning streak heading into the game.
'And people are like, "What could possibly disrupt them from their rhythm?"' he asked.
'Well, we have an answer. President Donald J. Trump.'
Co-host Mika Brzezinski playfully asked whether the Republican had 'ruined everything.'
Maddow also played a clip of Trump being booed during the National Anthem inside the arena, a clip Morning Joe producers played the following morning as well
Jonathan Lemire offered a remarkably similar report before accusing the president of falling asleep during the game's second half
Lemire, like Maddow, noted the disruption Trump's visit brought and longer wait times for those lining up.
A chyron blared: 'President Trump booed at MSG ahead of Game 3.'
'There was a lot of grumbling when they showed him on the Jumbotron during the national anthem,' Lemire, 46, reported.
He noted how the move 'was probably intentional, to try to put down the boos.'
'Yeah, I think that was,' Brzezinski said.
'Well, it didn't work. It was thunderous boos from those inside, from both the pool reporter in the building, and you could hear it on the TV broadcast as well. They were very, very, very loud,' Lemire said.
He joked that producers actually prepared notes beforehand explicitly stating there was 'no evidence of correlation between' Trump's attendance and 'the Knicks' 13 game winning streak [being] snapped.'
'I don't know. I think there are a lot of Knicks fans that would beg to differ,' he joked.
Brzezinski then brought up viral footage from the game that appears to show the 79-year-old commander-in-chief falling asleep.
Viral footage showed the president with his eyes closed while seated next to Knicks owner James Dolan
An incredulous Brzezinski said in disbelief: 'He didn't fall asleep. He did not shut down New York and disrupt this game to fall asleep at it'
'Did he fall asleep?' she asked.
Lemire conceded there was 'footage' going around.
Liberal commentator Joe Gallina was the first to share the footage on X. It was later picked up by MeidasTouch.
An incredulous Brzezinski said in disbelief: 'He didn't fall asleep. He did not shut down New York and disrupt this game to fall asleep at it.'
'Not with all that "Sleepy Joe" stuff. I mean, you can't,' she said.
'Well, he managed to find a way,' Lemire said. 'He was there. He was booed.'
