Donald Trump stood in his suite at Madison Square Garden Monday night, booed by 20,000 people, and smiled.
Then Whoopi Goldberg told the crowd they were wrong.
Then the Knicks lost – and the same people who booed him decided he was responsible for that too.
Even Whoopi Knew the Left Was Wrong on This One
Before Monday night's tip-off, The View did what The View always does – played footage of liberal commentators demanding Trump stay home.
The audience applauded.
Then Goldberg stepped in.
"I'm sorry," she said on air. "Trump and Mayor Mamdani are Knicks fans, and have been. They're New Yorkers. And there's nothing either one of them can do to change what's happening in this city, for this team."
She didn't stop there.
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When co-host Ana Navarro tried the tired line that Trump had forfeited his New York credentials by moving to Florida, Goldberg shut it down cold.
"I have always been, at my core – because I'm from here – I have always been a Knicks fan. And when you have always been a Knicks fan, it doesn't matter where you live!"
"Anybody who's a Knicks fan should be there," Goldberg said. "You earned the right as a Knicks fan. I don't care who you are. I don't have to like you, I don't have to dig you."
That is not a sentence you hear on The View in 2026.
Trump Was There. He's Always Been There.
Trump and the New York Knicks came into existence the same year – 1946.
He has courtside photos with the team going back to 1991.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver – not exactly a Trump donor – put it plainly last week: "Before he ever ran for office, he was a big Knicks fan. I've been with the league for a long time. I was there at many Knicks games with him in the old days."
On Monday night, Trump made history as the first sitting president ever to watch an NBA Finals game in person.
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He flew Marine One from New Jersey to Lower Manhattan, motorcaded to MSG, and settled into a suite with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, Jared Kushner, and his granddaughter Kai Trump.
When his face appeared on the jumbotron during the national anthem, the arena erupted in boos.
He grinned, held his salute, and didn't flinch.
The Knicks Lost and the Internet Blamed Trump Immediately
San Antonio beat New York 115-111.
It snapped a 13-game playoff win streak that had this city dreaming of a first championship since 1973.
Within minutes, social media lit up blaming Trump for jinxing the team.
Think about the logic there for a second.
If Trump had stayed home and the Knicks won, the left would have said nothing.
If Trump showed up and the Knicks won, the left would have ignored it entirely.
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But Trump shows up and the Knicks lose – and suddenly he is personally responsible for the outcome of a basketball game.
That is not politics.
That is a cult.
The Knicks still lead the series 2-1. Game 4 is Wednesday at the Garden.
And Whoopi Goldberg – the woman who calls the president "you-know-who" on national television – was the only voice at that table Monday morning willing to say the obvious thing.
A Knicks fan is a Knicks fan.
New York is still New York.
The left was wrong, and they know it.
Sources:
- Taylor Herzlich, "The View Host Whoopi Goldberg Offers Rare Defense of Trump," New York Post, June 8, 2026.
- "Whoopi Goldberg Defends Trump Attending Knicks NBA Finals Game," Fox News, June 8, 2026.
- "Trump Becomes First Sitting President to Attend NBA Finals Game," ESPN, June 8, 2026.
- "Donald Trump, Knicks Fan, Heads Back to New York to Root on His Team at MSG for 2026 NBA Finals," ABC7 New York, June 8, 2026.
- "Trump Booed Before Knicks Lose to Spurs at Madison Square Garden in NBA Finals Game 3," CNBC, June 8, 2026.
