Maybe this is the first very good example of why you should stick to sports.
The New England Patriots have been getting dragged for at least a year over their connections to Donald Trump, especially the fact that Tom Brady endorsed him and they consider each other friends. Then the Patriots won the Super Bowl, which meant a trip to the White House to visit Trump. And that meant Patriots players announcing they’d rather get their foot caught in a bear trap that do that.
So when the Patriots made the trip Wednesday, the focus was on who wasn’t in attendance, as this New York Times tweet will show.
Patriots' turnout for President Obama in 2015 vs. Patriots' turnout for President Trump today: https://t.co/OxMEOqZonI pic.twitter.com/pLmJWhOw1j
— NYT Sports (@NYTSports) April 19, 2017
Paltry showing, right? Well, perhaps at a breaking point as organization, someone inside the Patriots ordered (there’s no way the social media person did this on their own) someone to show the fake New York Times was being sad with fake news blah blah blah.
These photos lack context. Facts: In 2015, over 40 football staff were on the stairs. In 2017, they were seated on the South Lawn. https://t.co/iIYtV0hR6Y
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) April 20, 2017
Comparable photos: The last time the #Patriots won two Super Bowls in three years, 36 players visited the White House. Today, we had 34. pic.twitter.com/Aslvf1RaXU
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) April 20, 2017
The Patriots just couldn’t let it go. Sure, Tom Brady bailed on the trip over a “family matter” and there were fewer players this year than in the example given, but hey, the pictures look the same! And yeah, perhaps the reason why other members of the team weren’t in this year’s photo was because they didn’t want to be seen in a photo with Trump, but who can say, really?
At least the Patriots gave the Internet something to dunk on.
No other professional sports franchise would waste its time to explain this. https://t.co/pXBTkEZ9Mx
— Roy Bellamy (@roybelly) April 20, 2017
Also this is just another way of saying "a bunch of people didn't want to be in a picture with the president" https://t.co/E6OPu3OlK2
— Mark Agee (@MarkAgee) April 20, 2017
Full credit to the Pats for not tweeting #FakeNews #Sad https://t.co/uFvDz45kEk
— Jack Kogod (@Unsilent) April 20, 2017
Yeah, but in 2015? 50 of 53. 2017? 34 of 53. #PatriotsStillCheating https://t.co/l9p9sbHozd
— ralphgarman (@RalphGarman) April 20, 2017
https://twitter.com/celebrityhottub/status/854902079802003456
So, no matter how you try to parse it, this is a new low? https://t.co/qY1vFVg3qB
— Dave Hogg ✨ (@stareagle) April 20, 2017
Stick to sports, @patriots.