Update: Tom Brady cast his ballot Monday at Brookline Town Hall.
Donald Trump, perhaps looking to sway some last-minute New England fans, told a raucous crowd in New Hampshire Monday that Tom Brady called the GOP nominee to say he had voted for him.
He also read aloud from a letter he said Bill Belichick wrote to him, which said Trump “dealt with an unbelievable, slanted and negative media and have come out beautifully.”
“Tom Brady,” Trump said Monday evening to a roaring crowd, “great guy, great friend of mine, great, great champion, unbelievable winner. He called today and he said, ‘Donald, I support you, you’re my friend, and I voted for you.’
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“This guy is a champ and a winner and he is a great person,” Trump continued. “So I said, Tom, you voted for me, you support me, am I allowed to say it tonight to this massive crowd in New Hampshire? He said, ‘If you want to say it, you can say it.’”
.@realDonaldTrump tells New Hampshire crowd that Tom Brady called to say he voted for Trump https://t.co/9gJY87hhON https://t.co/VxFmoOAj8w
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) November 8, 2016
However, in an interview on Kirk & Callahan this morning, Brady said he had not voted yet.
“No, I haven’t voted yet,” he said on the show.
Brady added he would vote “today or tomorrow.”
Early voting ended in Massachusetts on Friday, but the deadline to apply for absentee ballots in the state was Monday at noon.
Brady and the hosts also discussed watching the Monday Night Football game between the Buffalo Bills and the Seattle Seahawks, referring to the game as “tonight,” which would suggest the interview was recorded on Monday.
Brady has been notably quiet about the election, at one point even walking away from reporters when asked about it.
Trump also read aloud from a letter that he said was from Patriots coach Bill Belichick.
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He said Belichick gave him the letter, and when Trump asked if he could read it in New Hampshire, the coach asked to rewrite it — and made it better.
Trump read what appeared to be the whole letter’s contents on the stage in Manchester:
“Congratulations on a tremendous campaign. You have dealt with an unbelievable, slanted and negative media and have come out beautifully. You’ve proved to be the ultimate competitor and fighter. Your leadership is amazing. I have always had tremendous respect for you, but the toughness and perseverance you have displayed over the past year is remarkable. Hopefully tomorrow’s election results will give the opportunity to make America great again.”
Trump reading Bill Belichick's letter of support pic.twitter.com/ZE6QCYxiUh
— Blake Montgomery (@blakersdozen) November 8, 2016
Later, Trump asked the crowd: ‘‘By the way, is there a better reference than Tom Brady and Bill Belichick? I don’t think so.’’
A Patriots spokesman said Brady and Belichick did not respond to requests for comment.
On Friday, Gisele Bundchen, Brady’s wife, had responded to a fan on Instagram who asked whether she and her husband were backing Trump with an emphatic “NO!”
Trump’s announcement sent the arena into a gleeful uproar, as people waved Trump signs high into the air, and screamed with approval. But as people filed out of the building and headed toward the exits, many said while they welcomed the news, Trump’s claims of the endorsements likely won’t make much of a difference — because in their eyes, Trump was already going to win.
“I don’t think we needed that help, but I’m sure it did” help, said Lisa Smith of Northfield, N.H. “Trump doesn’t need that, but I thought it was very nice that Bill [Belichick] wrote that letter, and Tom allowed him to say it.”
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Lisa Ross said she was glad about the announcement, but felt people were likely already decided in this election.
“Did it get the crowd fired up? Yes. But I think at this point people already know who they’re voting for,” she said as she left the venue.
Maria Bertolaccini, Ross’s friend, agreed.
“He’s going to win,” she said, adding that she wasn’t surprised that Brady would allegedly vote Trump.
Tony Piro said he was excited about the announcement, but fears Brady will get pounced on for getting allegedly involved in the election.
“I think they’re going to hear a lot of questioning on that,” he said. “They are going to hound Brady.”
Still, he hoped it would help.
”The country is going to hell — getting weaker all the time,” he said, something only Trump could fix.
Ben Volin of the Globe Staff contributed to this report.