Jon Stewart has highlighted what was so "crazy" about witnessing President Donald Trump getting booed at Madison Square Garden during Game 3 of the NBA Finals earlier this week.
The Juxtaposition of Boos
"It was in the middle of a guy with a beautiful voice singing the national anthem," Stewart said on the latest episode of his "Weekly Show" podcast, adding that boos at games are often directed at opposing players as they enter the arena. "This was, 'And the land of the —,' and then it cuts away, and everybody's like 'Boo.' ... It was more, I think — the juxtaposition of it made it so much more shocking and clear."
Trump's Reality Distortion
Stewart, a die-hard Knicks fan, added that Trump's postgame claim that he heard "mostly cheers" from the "very enthusiastic" crowd is telling. "It's also an insight into the window of his power of reality distortion," Stewart said. "I don't know what he filters through whatever earholes he's filtering through. But I do think he genuinely heard that as cheers."
Trump's claim that the crowd had a "very enthusiastic" reaction joins a number of postgame, right-wing spins, including the White House sharing a picture of Trump's mid-anthem salute with the caption "King of New York," and Fox News' Jesse Watters claiming that the crowd's reaction to Trump was "mixed."
Dismissing 'Mixed' Reactions
Stewart swiftly dismissed talk of a "mixed" reaction from the crowd. "I mean, mixed in the sense that it was 90% booing and 10% confusion," he teased. "I've been in Madison Square Garden. It was no more mixed than what the [San Antonio] Spurs received. I'm sure there were like 15 people in Madison Square Garden who were like, 'Wemby!' But overwhelmingly people were like, 'Fuck them!'"
Stewart's Wish for Trump's Absence
Stewart, much like fellow Knicks fan Stephen A. Smith, later stressed that he doesn't want Trump "anywhere near" another NBA Finals game. "We were on the craziest, high-vibed — we were on a run like no basketball team has ever been on. We hadn't lost in over a month, and he shows up. ... He put the maloik on us. That's the hex," Stewart said. "You know what it felt like with him in the building? Like in 'Ghostbusters' when the city opens up and the ghouls are coming out of the thing. We needed Bill Murray to come in and him and Dan Aykroyd to zap whatever cytoplasm was getting on the court."
