Yesterday the Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots, visited President Trump at the White House. Naturally, the pickers of nits were out in force. The first controversy was Tom Brady’s absence. Brady was supportive of Trump during the primary and election and therefore there had to be some embarrassing reason why he didn’t show. The favorite seems to be that he was “whipped” by Mrs. Brady, Giselle Bundchen, because being with a cancer-stricken mother could never be a concern of anyone supporting Trump. And never mind that he declined to visit the White House the last time the Patriots won.

The the media got involved:

Patriots' turnout for President Obama in 2015 vs. Patriots' turnout for President Trump today: https://t.co/OxMEOqZonI pic.twitter.com/pLmJWhOw1j

— NYT Sports (@NYTSports) April 19, 2017

The #Patriots White House turnout in 2015 versus 2017: https://t.co/VOKGP9P5Ez pic.twitter.com/QJzVonQE6V

— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) April 19, 2017

Photos on social media appear to show a difference in the New England Patriots' turnout at the White House vs. 2015 https://t.co/cZgEjSCV6J pic.twitter.com/WW5mcd2MWJ

— CNN (@CNN) April 20, 2017

Doesn’t look like a lot of Patriots visited the White House. Maybe some players got confused and went to Mar-a-Lago instead? pic.twitter.com/C8369Gwjua

— Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) April 20, 2017

In this case, the media was pushing a story that Trump was so unpopular that he was shunned by most of the Patriots.

Then the Patriot front office spoke up:

These photos lack context. Facts: In 2015, over 40 football staff were on the stairs. In 2017, they were seated on the South Lawn. https://t.co/iIYtV0hR6Y

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) April 20, 2017

Comparable photos: The last time the #Patriots won two Super Bowls in three years, 36 players visited the White House. Today, we had 34. pic.twitter.com/Aslvf1RaXU

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) April 20, 2017

A great honor to host the @SuperBowl Champion New England @Patriots at the White House today. Congratulations! https://t.co/OX5CPeZ5BZ pic.twitter.com/wXLsO4AZMr

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 20, 2017

The New York Time eventually offered an update.

Another misleading story about Trump that receives over 32,000 retweets while the correction currently sits at… 54. Every single time. pic.twitter.com/ohUl0Q4lzN

— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) April 20, 2017

There is no doubt that some Patriot players stayed home because of Trump. The fact that rich, privileged Democrats from the northeast who are part of reflexively liberal and politically correct business would boycott a Republican president is unremarkable. They did the same when they won in 2004 and 2005. In fact, more players showed up for Trump than for Bush in 2005.

#Patriots have 115-120 people here @WhiteHouse – Players thru years:
2002 – 50-plus
2004 – 36
2005 – 27
2015 – around 50
2017 – 34#wbz

— Dan Roche (@RochieWBZ) April 19, 2017

The point is that the New York Times engaged in Leni Riefenstahl-esque commentary by using two non-similar images that were insinuated to be comparable. This is not journalism. It isn’t even “speaking truth to power.” It is propaganda masquerading as news.