Donald Trump: I Told Tom Brady Not To Endorse Me For U.S. President

Tom Brady might remain on the sideline.

Even though Brady has acknowledged he’s friends with Donald Trump, the New England Patriots quarterback hasn’t taken the next step and endorsed the controversial Republican presidential candidate. According to Trump, it’s by design.

“No, because I told him not to,” Trump said Monday on WEEI’s “Dennis and Callahan” of whether he’s disappointed Brady hasn’t officially backed him for the upcoming election. “He’s got sponsors, he’s got all of his different things that he has to do. And I told him not to.”

Trump has been very vocal about his friendship with Brady, who once served as a beauty pageant judge for Trump many moons ago. The two apparently have golfed together and Brady has complimented his buddy on several occasions despite opting to stay out of politics as best he can.

“He couldn’t be nicer,” Trump said Monday. “There was an article in GQ. He said, ‘Trump’s the biggest winner, you can’t beat Trump’ and all that stuff. And I said, ‘Don’t do that, because you may have a sponsor that doesn’t like me.’ They may be liberal, they may be something. And I don’t want him to get involved in that stuff. It’s hard for athletes.

“Now, with that being said, I have had many athletes endorse me. Lots of different guys have endorsed me, which is great. But Tom’s in a very interesting position, and I said, ‘Tom, don’t do that.’ What he does is he says great stuff about me.”

Brady has faced plenty of questions about Trump over the last few months, especially since a Trump-themed “Make America Great Again” hat was spotted in his locker at Gillette Stadium back in September. We’re seemingly no closer to Brady going all-in on the Trump campaign, but Trump is confident he has his friend’s support leading up to Election Day.

“I think he would do it if I asked him,” Trump said of Brady endorsing him. “I’ve never asked him to do it. But I think he’d do it if I asked him.”

If Brady’s support means as much as Trump claims, perhaps the latter will want to reconsider his stance at some point and ask the four-time Super Bowl champion for an official endorsement.