Trump broke the news of Brady's voting preference to a crowd in New Hampshire on Monday night, per McKay Coppins of BuzzFeed News:
McKay Coppins @mckaycoppinsTrump: "Tom Brady called today. He said 'Donald I support you, you're my friend, I voted for you." Says Brady gave him permission to say so
Per Rosie Gray of BuzzFeed News and Sopan Deb of CBS News, Trump also read a letter he said Belichick sent him:
Rosie Gray @RosieGrayso Trump reads letter he says is from Bill Belichick. "You’ve proved to be the ultimate competitor and fighter. Your leadership is amazing."
Sopan Deb @SopanDeb!!!!! Trump tells Manchester crowd that Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have endorsed him. Now Trump is reading a letter from Belichick.
TrumpLIVE provided video of a portion of his speech:
Belichick was asked about the letter to Trump, telling reporters it was not a political act:
"I've received a number of inquiries relative to a note that I wrote to Donald on Monday," Belichick told reporters. "Our friendship goes back many years. I think anybody that spends more than five minutes with me knows I'm not a political person. My comments are not politically motivated."
Scott McLaughlin @smclaughlin9Brady said on @KirkAndCallahan this morning he hadn't voted yet. Early voting in Massachusetts ended Friday.
As Doug Kyed of NESN shared Monday, Brady's wife, Gisele Bundchen, appeared to deny Trump's statement when responding to a comment on Instagram asking if the couple had voted for Trump, saying, "NO!"
“Tom does vote, but like many Americans, prefers to keep his preferences to himself," Brady's agent Don Yee added in response to Trump, per ESPN's Adam Schefter.
On Wednesday, Brady was asked about Trump, implying he never gave the President-elect permission to use his name and discussed his wife's denial, per Ben Volin of the Boston Globe:
Ben Volin @BenVolinVideo: Tom Brady implies Trump didn’t have permission to use his name in support, says Gisele told him not to talk politics anymore
Brady's connection with Trump first came to light in September 2015, when the quarterback had a "Make America Great Again" hat in his locker.
"Donald is a good friend of mine," the quarterback said in December 2015, per WEEI's The Dennis and Callahan Show (via Amara Grautski and Denis Slattery of the New York Daily News). "I have known him for a long time. I support all my friends. That is what I have to say."
However, the four-time Super Bowl champion has avoided publicly throwing his support behind Trump as a candidate. He also chose not to attend the Republican National Convention in July.
Meanwhile, Trump's connection to the Patriots extends to Belichick, with whom he had dinner in March. Team owner Robert Kraft also called the candidate a "very close friend," per Matt Viser of the Boston Globe.
