New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is attending Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, where his longtime friend, President Donald Trump, will also be present. In an interview with Fox News Digital, Kraft shared his thoughts on Trump being the first sitting president to attend the Super Bowl. “It just shows you that maybe the NFL and the Super Bowl are important if we got the president of the United States coming as a guest,” Kraft remarked. He mentioned that he had previously donated to Trump during an interview on “The Breakfast Club” in October, noting that he first met Trump in the 1990s.
“Donald Trump became a social friend in the early ‘90s, when I was going down to Florida. And then when my wife passed away 13 years ago, he was one of four or five people who reached out to me and was really, really nice,” Kraft recalled. He added, “The only donation I ever gave to him was when he called me after he was elected, and I made a strong donation to his inauguration. I couldn’t believe it. It was like having someone who was a drunk fraternity brother become president of the United States.”
However, Kraft stated that he distanced himself from Trump following the events of January 6, 2021. “I will say this,” Kraft said. “I was very upset with what happened on January 6. And I haven’t talked to [Trump] since then.” The Patriots organization has also taken steps to separate themselves from the former president. In May 2021, Kraft and the team denied allegations that they attempted to pay a U.S. senator to drop an investigation into a cheating scandal involving the team, as reported by ESPN. The report claimed that Trump met with Senator Arlen Specter in 2008 and offered him “money in Palm Beach” to halt his investigation into the Spygate scandal, which resulted in NFL discipline for the Patriots.
A team spokesperson stated, “Mr. Kraft is not aware of any involvement of Trump on this topic, and he did not have any other engagement with Specter or his staff.” Additionally, a mutual friend of Kraft and Trump, Tom Brady, will be at the Super Bowl for work-related reasons. Brady is set to broadcast his first Super Bowl as a color commentator for Fox, marking his inaugural season in the booth. Kraft praised Brady’s broadcasting abilities, saying, “I think the way he has presented the nuances of the game, things that fans would never see, is truly special and unique, and Fox was brilliant to attract him.
