--- description: The New England Patriots are not in the Super Bowl this Sunday. But don't tell that to the Republicans running for President. title: Republicans Want New Hampshire to Know They Still Love the Patriots image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltee2c4d80397d4417/69887c26428a9e129dcd1404/tom-brady-new-england-patriots.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2016 Election](/tag/2016-election/) ## 2016 Election Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Republicans Want New Hampshire to Know They Still Love the Patriots  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 4, 2016 5:38 PM CUT  Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots walks off the field in the fourth quarter against the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver on Jan. 24, 2016. Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots walks off the field in the fourth quarter against the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver on Jan. 24, 2016.Christian Petersen—Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 4, 2016 5:38 PM CUT The New England Patriots are not in [the Super Bowl](http://time.com/4199076/super-bowl-50-2016-what-to-know/ "undefined") [this Sunday](http://time.com/4202148/super-bowl-50-2016-watch-live-stream-online-free/ "undefined"). But don’t tell that to the Republicans running for President. [Courting voters ahead of next week’s pivotal primary in New Hampshire](http://time.com/4204449/new-hampshire-primary-iowa-caucus-clinton-sanders-cruz-rubio-trump/ "undefined")—as much a part of Patriots country as anywhere else—the candidates are declaring themselves fans of the team that [lost to the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game](http://time.com/4192034/denver-broncos-new-england-patriots-afc-super-bowl/ "undefined"). And fans of its quarterback. In a [Boston radio interview](http://nesn.com/2016/02/donald-trump-dumps-on-patriots-o-line-for-not-protecting-tom-brady/ "undefined") on Wednesday, Republican Donald Trump, who has [never been short of praise for Patriots star quarterback](http://time.com/4022134/donald-trump-tom-brady/ "undefined") Tom Brady, called him “the finest guy.” “New England, the whole area there, they are very lucky to have Tom,” Trump said. But asked if Brady would campaign for him in New Hampshire, Trump said he wouldn’t ask the quarterback to do that right now. “I think he would if I asked him to,” Trump said. “I don’t know if I want to ask him to do that, you know. Right now he doesn’t feel so great because of what happened \[in the AFC Championship\]. He was really mauled. I’ll tell you the offensive line was not exactly giving him lots of protection, unfortunately.” Brady found himself at the center of controversy last year amid [the Deflategate scandal](http://time.com/4023686/tom-brady-deflategate-we-have-all-lost/ "undefined"). Republicans sought this week to tie Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton to the investigation—which was deeply unpopular in Patriots territory—by highlighting donations the former Secretary of State received from a lawyer who investigated the Patriots [Boston.com](http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2016/02/03/republicans-are-trying-make-ted-wells-donation-hillary-clinton-big-deal/XR0lETRwa444urFZa86ttI/story.html "undefined") reports. Brady was suspended as a result of the investigation, but a federal judge later [overturned his suspension](http://time.com/4031023/tom-brady-shines-in-first-game-after-deflategate-ruling/ "undefined"). Ohio Gov. John Kasich complimented Patriots head coach Bill Belichick on Wednesday when asked about his short list of vice presidential contenders. “I have to say that, Belichick was on my list,” Kasich [said in an interview with NBC News](https://twitter.com/KellyO/status/695098273938456576 "undefined"). Even Marco Rubio, who frequently touts his loyalty to the Miami Dolphins,[ joked last month that Brady and Belichick would be prime additions to his administration](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/19/us/politics/boots-marco-rubio-wants-to-talk-guns-and-football.html "undefined"), suggesting a cabinet appointment would be the best way to sideline Brady. “Belichick,” Rubio said, “would be defense secretary or something. He’ll be blitzing ISIS. It will be awesome.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4207955/super-bowl-50-new-hampshire-primary-patriots/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4207955/super-bowl-50-new-hampshire-primary-patriots/"},"headline":"Republicans Want New Hampshire to Know They Still Love the Patriots","datePublished":"2016-02-04T17:38:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:46:24.362Z","description":"Super Bowl or no Super Bowl","url":"https://time.com/4207955/super-bowl-50-new-hampshire-primary-patriots/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltee2c4d80397d4417/69887c26428a9e129dcd1404/tom-brady-new-england-patriots.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltee2c4d80397d4417/69887c26428a9e129dcd1404/tom-brady-new-england-patriots.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"AFC Championship - New England Patriots v Denver Broncos","caption":"Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots walks off the field in the fourth quarter against the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver on Jan. 24, 2016.","creditText":"Christian Petersen—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4207955/super-bowl-50-new-hampshire-primary-patriots/","name":"Republicans Want New Hampshire to Know They Still Love the Patriots"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Best of: Super Bowl ads you want to watch over and over","description":"Nostalgia runs deep in these bite-size versions of the top Super Bowl ads of the last 27 years as scored by USA Today's Ad Meter.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/iUx0RwnU/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-02-01T18:56:37.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/iUx0RwnU.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4207955/super-bowl-50-new-hampshire-primary-patriots/","duration":"PT4M56S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4207955/super-bowl-50-new-hampshire-primary-patriots/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```