The White House has issued aa stern rebuttal following a viral social media moment from President Donald Trump’s attendance at Game 3 of the NBA Finals. There was a lot that happened when the first NBA Finals game in New York in 27 years had a presidential guest. From the security measures to boos. But a big talking point was a video that showed Trump was seemingly asleep during one of the most physical games of the year in an arena filled with raucous fans. The Internet speculation reached a point that the White House had to respond.

Responding directly to the brewing controversy, the administration strongly rejected the narrative that the president nodded off during his historic appearance.

“President Trump made history as the first sitting President to attend an NBA Finals game,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told TMZ in an official statement. “The President watched every moment of a highly competitive, entertaining contest from James Dolan’s suite, joined by talented members of his Cabinet. Anyone ridiculously claiming the President was asleep is either lying or has severe brain damage.”

Despite the White House’s response, the internet wouldn’t stop analyzing the blurry, short clip showing the near 80-year-old commander-in-chief with his eyes seemingly closed for a brief stretch during the San Antonio Spurs’ 115-111 victory over the New York Knicks.

Knicks owner James Dolan clears the air on Donald Trump’s video

The White House’s denial complements the only firsthand account of the glass-walled Trump suite in Madison Square Garden. New York Knicks owner James Dolan invited the POTUS and hosted him, along with a select few members of the administration in his suite for Game 3. Some spectators couldn’t resist turning their cameras on the president and someone captured Trump apparently sleeping.

The next day, Dolan was on WFAN660’s The Carton Show, where he was directly asked about it. Dolan insisted that Trump was actively engaged from tip-off to the final buzzer. “I was with him the whole time,” Dolan asserted during his guest appearance. “We were talking the whole time. He was very much awake, he was very much engaged.

He proceeded to remind listeners that Trump is a native New Yorker and a diehard Knicks fan long before presidency. “That’s the first sitting president of the United States to ever go to an NBA Finals. That is a huge honor. And he’s a New Yorker. I mean, whatever you think about him, he’s a Knicks fan. People won’t agree to this, I think he’s a great guy…”

While it’s not supposed to be a big deal if Trump took a nap or not, it was just amplified given the backdrop of his attendance. MSG and New York City enforced major security upgrades, including canceling watch parties and shutting out ticketless fans from the Garden’s vicinity. The fans that were forced into improvised watch parties at bars and the streets were perfectly placed to riot when the Knicks lost.

Trump was also greeted by mixed reception inside the building. He was rained with boos in the arena when the jumbotron showed him during the national anthem. Trump however claimed he heard only cheers.

While late-night shows and internet critics have seized on the “nap” footage, the pushback from both the White House and Knicks ownership firmly maintains that the president was fully locked into Victor Wembanyama’s 32-point masterpiece.