Tom Brady Clarifies Relationship With Former President, Says He Hasn’t Talked To Trump ‘In A Lot Of Years’

Tom Brady is blowing the whistle on the media over its coverage of his relationship with former President Donald Trump, telling Variety that he hasn’t “talked to him in a lot of years.”

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers football star is often linked to Trump, having golfed with him multiple times, but Brady insisted to the magazine that the media “mischaracterized” them as close friends.

“This was 17 or 18 years ago,” Brady said in regards to a Make America Great Again hat hanging in his locker, featured in a viral photo. “I was so young. (G)ot to go to a private golf course. (T)hought it was the coolest thing in the world. … I haven’t talked to [Trump] in a lot of years.”

The 44-year-old athlete continued: “My personality isn’t ever one to insult anybody. I have plenty of my own flaws. I’m not here to point out anyone else’s flaws. There are things that I agree with… things that I don’t. There are things I agree with my wife [model Gisele Bündchen] about… things that I don’t. I love her to death, but we don’t always see eye to eye. I don’t see eye to eye with anyone. And I’m not responsible for what other people say. I’m really responsible for what I say. So if people want to say things that I said or that I’m about, that’s up to them, and I’m not going to respond to all those things all the time either.”

When Trump ran for President, reporters bashed Brady for having the hat. On the night before the 2016 election, the Republican candidate announced to a crowd of his supporters in Manchester, New Hampshire, that he had Brady and Patriots coach Bill Belichick on his side.

How did Trump present the situation?

“[Tom] called today and he said, ‘Donald, I support you, you’re my friend, and I voted for you,’” Trump said at the time.

“And I said, ‘So Tom. You voted for me, you support me, am I allowed to say it tonight at this massive crowd in New Hampshire?’ He said, ‘If you want to say it, you can say it.’ OK? Tom, that’s what a champ is all about.”

When asked about the phone call, Brady said: “Why does that make such a big deal? I don’t understand that,” Brady told WEEI. “I have called him, yes, in the past. Sometimes he calls me, sometimes I call him.”

“I always try to keep it in context. For 16 years you know someone before maybe he was in the position that he was in,” he said. “And he’s been very supportive of me for a long time. It’s just a friendship. I’ve got a lot of friends. I call a lot of people.”

“If you know someone, it doesn’t mean you agree with everything that they say or do,” Brady continued.

NFL hall of famer Mike “Iron Mike” Ditka later unloaded on reporters over their coverage of Brady’s association with Trump.

“These people are — can I say this? — assholes,” Ditka said on during a phone interview on WABC-AM’s “Bernie & Sid Show.” “Now, when you don’t have a choice anymore in our country — when people disagree with my choice, fine. That’s what made America great. There’s gonna be disagreements.”