Gabrielle Union has come out in defense of New England Patriots tight end Martellus Bennett, who declined an invitation to the White House following his team’s Super Bowl victory. In a clever tweet posted Tuesday, Union called out Bennett’s teammate Tom Brady, who skipped a White House visit in 2015 without giving an explanation as to why he wasn’t attending.
You do know Tom Brady skipped it when Pres. Obama was in the White House right? Or is it only a problem w/Martellus? https://t.co/F2vdxa0C5n
— Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) February 7, 2017
On Monday, Bennett denied he would meet with President Trump at the White House following their Super Bowl LI victory — a traditional visit made by Super Bowl champions. “I’m not going to go. It is what it is,” he said, according to the Huffington Post. “People know how I feel about it. Just follow me on Twitter.”
Patriots owner Robert Kraft, coach Bill Belichick and Brady are known to be friendly with Trump. Bennett added he’s “not really worried about” Kraft’s reaction to his refusal to attend the White House meeting.
On Jan. 31, Bennett preemptively said that he wouldn’t visit the president at the White House if the Patriots won the Super Bowl, because he doesn’t “support the guy that’s in the house.” His teammate, Pats safety Devin McCourty, echoed his statement, saying he wouldn’t attend either because he doesn’t “feel accepted in the White House.”
“With the president having so many strong opinions and prejudices, I believe certain people might feel accepted there while others won’t,” McCourtsy said in a text message to Time.
Other notable names decided to skip out on the visit in past years: former Broncos player Brock Osweiler didn’t gave the cold shoulder to the White House last year, while Steelers’ James Harrison skipped the event twice (in 2006 and 2009).