Robert Kraft Ended Friendship With Donald Trump After January 6th

Robert Kraft and Donald Trump were friends for nearly 30 years despite the fact one was an avowed Democrat and the other became an America First Conservative. But that friendship is apparently over now.

Call it a victim of the January 6, 2021, demonstrations and riots in Washington.

Robert Kraft, chief executive officer of Kraft Group and owner of the New England Patriots, speaks during a Hanukkah reception at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019. During the event U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order stating that colleges and universities that allow groups with anti-Semitic beliefs to operate on their campuses will not receive federal educational funding. Photographer: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Kraft Describes Trump Relationship

At least that's how Kraft portrayed it a couple of days ago during an appearance on the Breakfast Club Power 105.1 FM show.

"Let me just say I'm a Democrat," the New England Patriots owner told the hosts. "I was head of the Democratic city committee in Brookline and Newton [Mass.]. And I ran Teddy Kennedy's re-election campaign with a young man called Tommy O'Neill in Boston – who was [former House Speaker] Tip O'Neill's son. And I've always been Democratic.

"Donald Trump became a social friend in the early 90s when I was going down to Florida. And then when my wife, her blessed memory, died 13 years ago, he was one of the four or five people that reached out to me and was really nice."

Cool, so the accusations Kraft was among the list of NFL owners fully in the tank for Trump as a Republican presidential candidate in 2016 was not true. Kraft actually contributed heavily to the Barack Obama campaign years prior.  

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 19:  New England Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick (L) and team owner Robert Kraft (R) present a football helmet to U.S. President Donald Trump during a celebration of the team's Super Bowl victory on the South Lawn at the White House April 19, 2017 in Washington, DC. It was the team's fifth Super Bowl victory since 1960.  (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Kraft Not Speaking To Trump

But he and Trump  were obviously friendly, as everyone saw after the 2017 and 2019 NFL seasons when the Patriots visited the White House after winning Super Bowl titles. 

"The only donation I ever gave to him was when he called me when he got elected and I made a strong donation to his inauguration," Kraft said. "I couldn't believe it. It was like having someone who was a drunk fraternity brother become President of the United States.

"And, yeah, I think he did things. I mean, I'll say this, I was very upset what happened on January 6th."

Lenard McKelvey, one of the show's hosts who is known professionally as Charlamagne interjected, "He led an insurrection in this country."

Then Kraft, seemingly in agreement, answered: "And I haven't talked to him since then."

So what to do with this information?

Jacob Chansley, a protester, climbs scaffolding as demonstrators swarm the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. The U.S. Capitol was placed under lockdown and Vice President Mike Pence left the floor of Congress as hundreds of Demonstrators swarmed past barricades surrounding the building where lawmakers were debating Joe Biden's victory in the Electoral College. Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Trump's Role On Jan. 6

First, about January 6th: It is a lot of things to a lot of people.

Some people call it an insurrection by conservatives. And for those folks, it is definitely an issue in the 2024 election.

Some people call it a hoax orchestrated by liberals, politicians, and the so-called deep state. And they won't be thinking about it one bit when they cast ballots in the next election.

Whatever it was, it left a lot of people quite disturbed.

But any dispassionate review of available facts show it wasn't Trump leading the charge to encourage a takeover of the American government.

The fact is Trump gave the Pentagon directives to keep peace over Jan. 6. 

Trump said he offered then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi National Guard troops in advance of Jan. 6, but she declined.

Social Media Was Different Then

Pelosi was quoted as "taking full responsibility" for the mistake in footage obtained by Congress. The footage was filmed by Pelosi's own daughter for an HBO show.

"Oh my God, I cannot believe the stupidity of this," Pelosi says on the footage shot by daughter Alexandra Pelosi. "And I take the full responsibility."

Secondly, that was a different time on social media. Twitter at the time was run by people with a different world view than Elon Musk has now while running X.

When Trump tweeted on Jan. 6, his tweet was removed within minutes.

When Trump put out a video encouraging his supporters to go home, that was taken down as well.

Yes, he said, and obviously believed, the election was "stolen from us."

No Friendship And No Dynasty For Kraft

But, he added, "We have to have peace. We have to have law and order. We have to respect our great people in law and order. We don't want anybody hurt."

It's unclear if Kraft is aware of this. It's unclear to what extent he followed what happened as he was overseeing his football team and the decline of its dynasty.

Because that's exactly what has happened, to be sure.

In the 31 years Kraft has owned the Patriots – which is concurrent with the time he's known Trump –  the franchise forged a 321-167 record and won six Super Bowls.

In the four years Trump was in office, the Patriots had a 43-21 record and enjoyed one of the franchise's Super Bowl championships.

In the seasons since Jan. 6, 2021, when Robert Kraft stopped speaking to Donald Trump, the Patriots have a 23-34 record and have missed the playoffs two consecutive seasons and are about to miss them again this season.