A USA Today columnist in Houston for the Super Bowl wrote Monday that New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady should denounce the travel ban imposed by President Donald Trump over the weekend because he is friends with him and purportedly voted for him.
Nancy Armour writes that because Brady was semi-vocal about his relationship with Trump — he left a "Make America Great Again" hat in his locker during the contentious presidential campaign and has mentioned him a few times — he "no longer gets a pass on his friendship with Donald Trump."
"Not after this weekend, when the country boiled over in rage and indignation at Trump's decision to turn America's back on refugees,"Armour wrote. "Not after this season, when Colin Kaepernick was pilloried from coast to coast for trying to draw attention to the shortcomings of our country.
"And not when he's about to command the NFL's biggest stage."
The Patriots will play the Atlanta Falcons in Sunday's Super Bowl. The teams will face the media Monday night and Brady, Armour wrote, is sure to be peppered with questions about his ties to the president.
"Trump's campaign was steeped in racism, bigotry and misogyny, and he has doubled down on his hatred in his first week as president," Armour wrote. "It's left Americans across the country angry and frightened, fearful that the ideals that have made this country exceptional for more than 200 years are being abandoned.
"Brady might not agree with Trump's views or his policies, as he seemed to indicate last week during his weekly appearance on WEEI's 'Kirk and Callahan' radio show. His support might have more to do with Trump's many golf courses than the man himself.
"But in refusing to publicly disavow Trump's actions, Brady is giving tacit endorsement to both Trump and the chaos he has created."
Trump signed an order last Friday that suspended all people from seven countries — Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen — from immigrating to the United States for 90 days. The order also halted the U.S. refugee program for 120 days and the Syrian refugee program indefinitely.
The order sparked protests across the country all weekend at airports and public spaces.
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