Tom Brady’s ‘Betrayal’ of Donald Trump Outrages Conservatives

Tom Brady ribbed former President Donald Trump during a White House visit Tuesday, and some conservatives were really mad about it.

The moment

During a speech on the South Lawn in honor of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Super Bowl LV victory, Brady joked with Joe Biden about Trump’s nickname for the president and his claims the 2020 election was rigged.

Tom Brady: “Not a lot of people think that we could have won and in fact, I think 40% of the people still don’t think we won."

Biden: “I understand that” https://t.co/zWVPjevyq4 pic.twitter.com/EO3UcSBnrn

— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) July 20, 2021

The reaction

Trump critics like New York’s Jonathan Chait — many of whom have been hostile to Brady because of his past “MAGA” ties — relished what they saw as a humiliating moment for the former president.

Why I think this is quite seriously the worst day of Donald Trump's life https://t.co/kTlj0gVUDx

— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) July 20, 2021

Meanwhile, pro-Trump commentators were outraged: Breitbart News editor Joel Pollak accused Brady of betraying Trump and called the former president a “tragic hero.”

Whatever you think of Trump, watching Tom Brady stab him in the back is disgusting. The mark of a true tragic hero is that even his friends betray him. The man has sacrificed more for this country than Tom Brady — or Joe Biden, for that matter — ever will. https://t.co/HVPNnnbHi3

— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) July 20, 2021

Breitbart’s news coverage took a similar tone.

😆Breitbart is having a total meltdown over Tom Brady's joke with Biden about Trump losing the election pic.twitter.com/dfhEEgSnDN

— Oliver Willis (@owillis) July 21, 2021

Same energy

Then-President Barack Obama’s roast of “The Donald” at the 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner is seen as having motivated Trump’s successful 2016 presidential campaign.

Trump has hinted at plans to win the presidency “for a third time” in 2024.