Fact Check: Did Donald Trump Call Out the Giants for Their Field Goal vs. the Lions?

There’s a lot going on for the President of the United States right now. The never-ending seesaw of partisan politics, the cost of living crisis, the rise of new technologies, and several international wars and disputes. But he is the President of the United States of America after all, so of course Donald Trump needs to weigh in on football from time to time.

In fact, Trump recently attended a Washington Commanders game (which they lost 44-22 to the Detroit Lions) as the honored guest of the franchise’s new owner, Josh Harris. He was the first sitting President to do so since Jimmy Carter in 1977 and Richard Nixon before him in 1969. Trump even joined the commentating team in the booth during that broadcast.

But he didn’t leave it at that. Trump was on Pat McAfee’s show as well, and this week, he took off his MAGA hat and put his football analysis cap back on to throw some shade at the New York Giants’ latest late-game debacle, which resulted in a 34-27 overtime loss to the Lions.

Since Trump posts exclusively on Truth Social—which never really took off as a competitor with Twitter, like the President thought it would—most people have only seen his Giants post on other social media platforms. This has led some to believe it was just a Photoshop job. So which is it?

Claim: Donald Trump (who is from New York) wrote a post on his Truth Social account criticizing interim head coach Mike Kafka’s play-calling after the Giants blew a late lead and then lost in overtime.

Source of the Claim: Trump’s Truth Social post had ostensibly been screenshotted by many social media users and then reposted on these other platforms like X and Instagram.

“Why did the New York Football Giants (NFL) not kick that Field Goal??? Who would have done such a thing? It was CRAZY! I got to watch the end of the game and thought, when they went for the touchdown instead of the 3, ‘That’s Weird!!!” Trump wrote.

Verdict: True.

The Truth Social post has not been picked up by as many major news outlets as you might think, which made its authenticity seem iffy. However, Fox News grabbed it, and we’re pretty sure they’re all on Truth Social. That lends credence to the notion that this is a genuine post from POTUS.

It’s strange to see the President talk about specific moments in a random NFL game. But he wasn’t alone on this one. Giants star wideout Malik Nabers, who’s been on IR all season with a torn ACL, also criticized the play-calling in a since-deleted tweet.

Specifically, it was New York’s decision to go for it on 4th and goal from the six-yard line while they were up 27-24 with just a couple of minutes remaining. Logic would have suggested kicking a field goal to go up six and force the Lions to score a TD to win, rather than just getting a field goal to send it to OT (which is what the Lions did).

Trump must have had the Sunday off, because he was also posting about Shedeur Sanders’ first NFL start as well. And just so we’re clear, that means he’s watching the Giants game and the Browns game. Interesting picks, to say the least.

In the post, Trump said Sanders was GREAT. And, with his characteristic magnanimity, he also added a big fat “I TOLD YOU SO” at the end of his message praising the Sanders family.

We’re assuming that means he’s always been a Shedeur Sanders fan? Go figure.