It’s no secret that New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and head coach Bill Belichick are friends of President Donald Trump. Unless you rely on the broadcast network evening news.
Thirty-four Patriots players joined their coach and team owner in the visit to the White House to honor them on their victory. That visit was overshadowed by the apparent suicide of former teammate Aaron Hernandez, in prison for the murder of Odin Lloyd. All three networks used Hernandez’s death to downgrade the press event into B-roll. Then they skipped the positive things Kraft had to say about Trump or a key, pro-Trump anecdote the president mentioned involving Belichick.
The rest of the media did everything they could to prevent Trump from scoring points, just like normal. Politico described the visit as, “The Alt-Right’s Favorite Team Visits the White House.” Several outlets hyped the number of players who had skipped, like Time and lefty Think Progress.
Some sites promoted an anti-Trump Patriots video. GQ claimed Trump “Seems Pretty Hurt” by quarterback Tom Brady’s skipping the event. Even though Brady had to be broken up over the death of a former member of his offense. ESPN’s Bob Ley said he was “stunned” the Patriots for having anyone go in light of Hernandez’s death.