'Sucked the joy out': Radio host Charlamagne slams Trump for attending Knicks game

President Donald Trump's decision to attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Monday has put him at the forefront of heightened criticism. On Tuesday, popular radio host Lenard Larry McKelvey, a.k.a. "Charlamagne tha God," claimed that while Trump was not directly responsible for the Knicks losing the game, he was responsible for draining the energy that New York City has seen from fans over the past several days.

"Donald Trump wasn’t responsible for the loss of the game, but he was responsible for the loss of joy the New York Knicks fans had been feeling," he said on 'The Breakfast Club'. "One of the greatest things about this whole playoff run, this finals run, is watching the joy that Knicks fans have. I have never seen anything like it in New York City." Charlamagne also claimed that the fanfare for the Knicks was a lot more than there was for the Yankees or the Giants.

"Donald Trump came here yesterday and sucked the joy out of the city," Charlamagne said. The radio host also spoke about the inconvenience that New Yorkers faced due to the President's visit, which included a watch party outside the Garden being cancelled and several roads being cordoned off for safety purposes, leading to a hectic traffic situation. Fans gave Trump a hostile environment, with many booing as the President appeared on the jumbotron.

The President, however, believes that more people cheered for him at the venue. He has also seemingly gotten into a war of words with popular sportscaster Stephen A. Smith, who has blamed Trump for the Knicks' defeat. Trump responded by saying that Smith was not someone who had a lot of intelligence.

"Well, if he's not going to show up to game four, thank you very much for not being hard-headed this time and listening, because you disrupted the mojo that the New York Knicks fan base was building for this team," Smith said in an interview with CNN. "He definitely is a New York Knicks fan, so he knows about the suffering. He knows what the city has gone through. And he knows the slightest thing can disrupt the momentum in the world of sport. To me, he should have been highly sensitive to that."

Smith also suggested that Trump should have been ashamed of himself for showing up to Game 3 and disrupting the momentum of the team he supports. The criticism came after the Knicks suffered their first loss of the NBA Finals, although they still lead the Spurs 2-1 in the series. A defeat in Game 4 would level the series and increase the pressure on New York as they seek their first championship in decades.