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Hochul's Trump Attack Backfires, Carolla Roasts Hollywood, Walz Under Fire | 5/29/26 FIRST LOOK
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Hey everybody, I'm Dave Rubin and this is First Look. It's Friday, May 29, 2026. We've got a packed show for you today. New York Governor Kathy Hochul embarrasses herself trying to question President Trump's Knicks fandom after the team reaches its first NBA Finals in decades. Adam Carolla takes shots at woke Hollywood during his Walk of Fame ceremony. Tim Waltz pardons an illegal immigrant convicted of armed robbery just before he was set to be deported by ice. Let's dive in. We start in New York, where Governor Kathy Hochul attempted to dunk on President Trump over basketball and ended up completely embarrassing herself in the process. Now, this all started after the New York Knicks punched their ticket to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999. And because President Trump recently said he plans to attend a Finals game at Madison Square Garden, reporters asked Hochul whether Trump is actually a real Knicks fan. That should have been an easy political jab. Instead, it turned into a total disaster. Hochul smugly responded, I'd ask him to name the starting lineup from the 1993 championship team and and see how he does. There's just one problem. The Knicks did not win A championship in 1993. Not even close. The 1993 Knicks were eliminated in the Eastern Conference finals by Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls, who went on to win the NBA title as part of their first three peat dynasty. The Knicks last actual championship, 1973. So Hochul was off by 20 years and social media absolutely destroyed her. Almost immediately, clips and photos resurfaced showing Trump has in fact been a very public Knicks fan for decades. One clip from the mid-2000s showed Trump sinking a free throw at Madison Square Garden while then head coach Isaiah Thomas and Knicks players Jamal Crawford and Penny Hardaway cheered him on. Another old video showed Knicks legend Charles Oakley literally falling into Trump's lap courtside during a game. Afterward, Trump joked with legendary TNT reporter Craig Sager, saying, Oakley is great. He's a good guy. I know him, so it's okay. Then another clip surfaced from the 1994 NBA Finals between the Knicks and Rockets showing Trump appearing during the pre game broadcast to wish legendary announcer Marv Albert a happy birthday. In other words, Trump's Knicks fandom is actually extremely well documented. Even Donald Trump Jr. Jumped into the fight online posting. Anyone who knows my father knows he probably knows more about sports than just about any human being not in the business. Then he added, cathy's failed soundbite ain't gonna land well, just like her policies. And honestly, that's what made this whole thing so funny. This was supposed to be one of those easy viral anti Trump moments. Instead, Hochul managed to expose that she apparently doesn't know basic Nick's history, while accidentally proving Trump actually is a longtime fan. And politically, this is becoming a pattern with a lot of Democrats. They get so obsessed with trying to score cheap anti Trump soundbites that that they stop bothering to check whether what they're saying is even remotely accurate. Now meanwhile, Trump attending the Finals would actually make history. According to espn, he would become the first sitting US President ever to attend an NBA Finals game. And honestly, the image of Trump sitting courtside at Madison Square Garden while New York Democrats melt down about it almost feels inevitable at this point. Point now to Hollywood, where my friend comedian Adam Carolla used his Walk of Fame ceremony to take direct shots at woke celebrities, cancel culture, and liberal hypocrisy in the entertainment industry. And honestly, it was refreshing to watch somebody in Hollywood actually sound normal for once. Carolla officially received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame this week, with longtime friend Jimmy Kimmel serving as one of the presenters. Now, despite their political differences today, the two go way back, co hosting the man show together, building their careers side by side and remaining close friends even as Hollywood and politics pulled them in very different directions. During his speech, Kimmel actually became emotional, talking about Carolla's success and how proud he was of him. But then Adam took the mic and immediately started roasting the entertainment industry. At one point, Carolla joked that if his star ended up too close to President Trump's star on the Walk of Fame, Mark Ruffalo might try to destroy it. He also took a shot at Chelsea Handler, lumping her into what he jokingly called some of the worst people in history. And then came maybe the funniest line of the event. Referring to CBS canceling Stephen Colbert, Carolla turned toward Kimmel and joked, jimmy's got a fighting chance now in the ratings. That line absolutely killed. And honestly, the joke landed because late night television has become such an ideological echo chamber that audiences increasingly stopped watching. For years, Colbert, Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and the rest of the late night crowd basically turned their shows into nightly anti Trump therapy sessions for liberals, and ratings across the industry collapsed. Now, what makes Carolla interesting politically is that he's become something of a bridge figure. He's not some traditional Republican operative. He's a comedian who increasingly got pushed toward conservatives because he rejected woke culture, defended free speech, criticized government overreach, and refused to participate in Hollywood's ideological purity tests. At the same time, he's remained personally loyal to friends like Jimmy Kimmel, even when conservatives were attacking him. In fact, just weeks ago, Carolla publicly defended Kimmel after MAGA activists demanded Kimmel be fired over jokes tied to the White House correspondent's dinner shooting controversy. And that surprised some conservatives because Carolla has spent years criticizing the Biden administration, cancel culture, progressive politics, and modern Hollywood activism. But honestly, that's part of what made this moment work. It wasn't fake corporate Hollywood politeness. It actually felt real. Two guys with different politics still respecting each other while openly mocking the insanity consuming the entertainment industry. And at this point, Adam Carolla has basically become the rare Hollywood figure willing to say what millions of Americans are already thinking. People are exhausted by the constant political preaching. And finally, Minnesota Governor Tim Walls is under fire after pardoning an illegal immigran convicted of armed robbery just before he was set to be deported by ice. And honestly, this story perfectly captures how extreme parts of the modern Democratic Party have become on immigration. The man at the center of the case is Jai Vang, an illegal immigrant from Laos who was convicted in 1994 of aiding and abetting armed robbery in Hennepin County, Minnesota. At the time of the crime, Vang was 18 years old. He served his prison sentence and remained in the United States afterward. Then earlier this year, ICE arrested him during Operation Metro Surge, a major immigration enforcement operation targeting criminal illegal aliens in the Minneapolis area. Now, according to reports, once Walls learned Vang was facing deportation, he rushed to intervene. The governor reportedly called a special session of Minnesota's Clemency Review Commission specifically to ensure Vang's pardon request could be heard before ICE removed him from the country. And the commission, joined by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and State Supreme Court Chief Justice Natalie Hudson, voted unanimously to pardon him. Now, supporters argued Vang had stayed out of trouble after prison, started a family, built a painting business, and become a productive member of society. But what really stunned critics was Walls rhetoric during the hearing. At one point, Walls actually referred to Vang as a tax paying citizen. Except he's not a citizen. He's an illegal immigrant convicted of armed robbery. Walls then argued, I can find no reason how Minnesota will be safer or, or better if Mr. Vang is deported. And honestly, that statement tells you everything about where parts of the Democratic Party are right now. Because the issue isn't whether someone later became successful. The issue is why is a governor intervening to stop the deportation of a criminal illegal alien in the first place. And remember, this is the same Tim Walls who previously compared ICE agents to to Trump's modern day Gestapo, a comment so extreme that even then acting ICE Director Todd Lyons publicly rebuked him. Lyons responded, if the governor doesn't like the laws, he's free to advocate that Congress change them. But he should refrain from putting ICE officers in danger by likening them to one of the most appalling groups in history. And that's the broader issue here. Democrats increasingly talk about immigration enforcement itself as immoral, even when dealing with individuals convicted of violent crimes. Meanwhile, ICE agents trying to enforce federal law are demonized as extremists simply for doing their jobs. And politically, stories like this are exactly why immigration continues polling as one of President Trump's strongest issues heading into the midterms. Because for millions of Americans, the standard feels completely backwards. Law abiding citizens struggle with rising crime and overwhelmed systems while politicians bend over backwards to protect criminal illegal immigrants from deportation. And that's your first look this Friday. Quick recap. Kathy Hochul embarrasses herself trying to question President Trump's Knicks fandom. Adam Carolla roasts woke Hollywood during his Walk of Fame ceremony and jokes that Jimmy Kimmel finally has a shot in the ratings. And Tim Walls pardons an illegal immigrant convicted of armed robbery just before ICE deportation proceedings. We'll keep following all of it. I'm Dave Rubin. Thanks for starting your day with first look. See you tomorrow.