Robert Kraft’s good deed wasn’t enough to win over Jemele Hill.
The Kraft family used the New England Patriots’ team plane to transport more than 1 million N95 protective masks from China to the United States amid the coronavirus pandemic, drawing an emotional reaction from Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, among others, upon the equipment’s arrival in Boston on Thursday.
Hill, a former ESPN pundit now contributing to The Atlantic, was a bit less enthusiastic about the development, acknowledging it was an “incredible” gesture by the Kraft family but also firing a shot at the Patriots owner over his friendship with President Donald Trump.
This is where I remind people that Robert Kraft is friends with Donald Trump and gave to his campaign. It’s incredible the Kraft family is doing this, but hope they understand their money helped empower their ✌🏾friend✌🏾 https://t.co/IytC5C5bIX
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) April 2, 2020
We’ll save the political discourse for another day, but Hill’s tweet was divisive, to say the least, as many ripped the polarizing talking head for her comment while others defended her amid the controversy. Hill replied to some of the feedback, doubling down on her stance in many cases, and that sparked additional debate.
Politics aside, the Kraft family reportedly paid roughly $2 million to help with the costs of the masks. Kraft and Baker also agreed to send 300,000 masks to New York City, which has been hit hard during the COVID-19 outbreak.
