Tom Brady joking around with President Joe Biden at the White House Tuesday doesn’t tell us anything about his political leanings. After all, Brady recently informed us he lies 90 percent of the time.
But Brady yucking it up in the Rose Garden alongside Biden does tell us one thing: He thinks it’s good for the brand.
And that probably stings his former pal Donald Trump. Obsessed with optics, Trump reportedly became enraged when he found out Brady was skipping the Patriots’ White House visit in 2017.
TB12 didn’t want to be anywhere near No. 45.
Ouch.
The Buccaneers visited the White House Tuesday to celebrate their Super Bowl victory, marking Brady’s first celebratory trip to the capital since 2005. Four years ago, Trump didn’t even mention Brady in his speech, even though the quarterback won MVP honors and led the Patriots to the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history.
On Tuesday, Brady performed a standup routine for Biden, and mocked the MAGA heads who wrongly believe the election was stolen.
“Not a lot of people think we could’ve won,” Brady said. “In fact, I think about 40 percent of the people still don’t think we won.”
For good measure, Brady also poked fun at the Trump-invented “Sleepy Joe” moniker.
“We had a game in Chicago where I forgot what down it was,” he said. “I lost track of one down in 21 years of playing. They started calling me ‘Sleepy Tom.’ Why would they do that to me?”
It’s easy to imagine Trump stewing around Mar-a-Lago, repeating the same question about Brady: “Why would he do this to me?”
Contrary to popular belief, Brady never seriously endorsed Trump prior to the 2016 election. Way back in August 2015 — just two months after Trump had descended down the escalators in front of paid actors — reporters noticed there was a “Make America Great Again” hat sitting in Brady’s locker.
The merchandise was a gift from Robert Kraft, one of Trump’s close billionaire confidants.
Originally, Brady defended his friendship with Trump. That September, he joked it would be “great” if Trump became president, because there would be a “putting green on the White House lawn.” Trump invited Brady to his 2002 Miss USA Pageant, and two became golfing buddies after that.
Brady mostly stayed silent about Trump for the rest of the campaign, even refusing to disclose for whom he voted. His last public words on Trump came in January 2017, when he questioned why their relationship was such a big story.
Still, Brady tried to distance himself from Trump’s polarizing politics. He told Kirk & Callahan “if you know someone, it doesn’t mean you agree with everything they say or do.”
Four months later, he spurned Trump at the White House, and didn’t even call.
Sad!
The diss angered Trump, prompting him to phone Kraft, the Washington Post reports. Throughout the campaign, Trump spoke constantly about his friendship with Brady, the greatest quarterback of all-time. He even reportedly wanted Brady to become his son-in-law.
But when it came time for Brady to embrace Trump on the White House lawn (right where that putting green was supposed to be), the former president was left to single out Danny Amendola, who also didn’t attend.
The Patriots skipped the White House tour following their victory over the Rams in Super Bowl LIII. Both sides said politics had nothing to do with it.
That might be the case. But perception probably did.
In fairness, Brady was also absent for the Patriots’ White House trip in 2015, when President Barack Obama was in office. Maybe that was due to optics as well. Obama was deeply unpopular in Red America.
Meanwhile, Biden has a 52.3 percent approval rating. That’s an impressive feat in a divided country where people live in alternate realities.
From a PR standpoint, being at the White House with Biden is a safe space. It’s an activity that Howard Stern and Oprah would approve of.
Undoubtedly, Gisele Bundchen would as well.
We don’t know a lot about Brady as a person, besides his affinity for pliability and avoiding unnecessary controversies. He may not have voted for Biden, but he’s proud to stand next to him.
That’s the biggest insult to Trump of all.
