Patriots owner Robert Kraft was invited by President Trump to share a few words at a White House event Wednesday celebrating Hanukkah and Trump’s signing of an executive order aimed at combating anti-Semitism.
However, in introducing Kraft, Trump seemed unknowingly to rub it in that the Patriots have fallen from the top seed of the American Football Conference.
“As usual, his team is mired in first place. Have you ever been in second place?” Trump asked Kraft as the Patriots owner made his way up to the podium.
In fact, the Patriots have ceded the top spot in the AFC to the Baltimore Ravens. The Patriots sit in second place right now, with 10 wins to the Ravens’ 11 with three weeks of the season left to play. The Patriots do, however, still lead their AFC East division.
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While introducing Kraft, Trump also called him a “friend” who has been “a tremendous success in so many businesses,“ noting that the public knows his name “because he signs Tom Brady’s check every week.”
Trump also mentioned the late Myra Kraft, who died of cancer in July 2011.
“His wife, Myra, passed away a longer time ago than we think, Bob. That was a big tough time for you and for me, too, and for Melania.”
Trump also said Kraft is a “special friend of Israel”: “Nobody is closer to Israel than Bob Kraft.”
Kraft, for his part, praised the executive order when he took the podium’s microphone in brief remarks, calling it “a bipartisan issue.”
“My wife, bless her memory, would be smiling now,” Kraft said.
Jaclyn Reiss can be reached at jaclyn.reiss@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter: @JaclynReiss