Trump’s final rally—the three most beautiful words in the English language—was a vintage affair, hitting many of the same frenzied, paranoid notes we’ve come to expect. (That said, I will genuinely miss hearing “The Snake” several times a week.) But, in Manchester, New Hampshire, Trump did make one foray into relatively uncharted territory: He touted the endorsements of hooded sweatshirt enthusiast and New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick and the team’s star quarterback Tom Brady.
Both Belichick, who dined with Trump in March, and Brady, who had a “Make America Great Again” hat in his locker last season, are believed to be supporters of Trump, but both have stayed relatively quiet about the election. Brady has refused to answer questions about politics, while Belichick only speaks in a series of low-pitched, guttural grunts. But there are still many reasons to doubt that Belichick and Brady are supporting Trump as enthusiastically as Trump claimed in New Hampshire. Here, for instance, is the “letter” from Belichick that Trump read aloud last night:
Here’s the “most beautiful letter" Trump says Bill Belichick sent him today: https://t.co/kLqqk4SChZ pic.twitter.com/oCQ54h0IP4
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) November 8, 2016
It’s totally possible that Belichick writes in the exact same cadence as Trump’s communications people do when trying to write in Trump’s voice, or that he loves the exact same words that Trump does (“tremendous,” “beautifully”). That Belichick would hate the media as much as Trump actually more or less checks out, though it feels a little bit too perfect. Finally, I can think of no instance in which Belichick has publicly praised anyone this effusively.
As for Brady, Trump said that Brady voted for him. Brady, however, said in an interview last weekend that he had not voted yet—and Massachusetts early voting ended on Friday. Meanwhile, when asked if she and Tom supported Trump, Brady’s wife Gisele responded “NO” in all caps. Finally, Trump has lied about receiving communication from the NFL in the past—he claimed that the NFL had sent him a letter complaining about the debate schedule earlier in the fall, but no such letter ever existed.
Belichick and Brady may very well be Trump supporters, but every sign points to Trump being not exactly truthful here. The funniest thing about this is that, as popular as the two of them are in New Hampshire—which has four electoral votes—they are incredibly unpopular in every other swing state because they are the two most hated men in professional football, which means that a Belichick/Brady endorsement only gets you so far. But Trump has always cared more for appearances than anything else, which is why this is the only fitting way for this interminable election to end.
Update: Well, well. It looks like the Belichick letter might be real after all.
Bill Belichick did indeed write Donald Trump a letter. The letter Trump read from Belichick is accurate. Those were Bill's words. #WBZ
— STEVE BURTON (@STEVEBURTONWBZ) November 8, 2016
Bill Belichick and Donald Trump write in the exact same cadence and have the exact same vocabulary. What a time to be alive.