Billionaire Patriots proprietor Robert Kraft offers first public increase to Josh Kraft’s bid for Boston mayor

The billionaire New England Patriots proprietor Robert Kraft sought to painting his third son as greater than only a privileged inheritor to his household fortune whereas talking publicly about Josh Kraft’s bid for Boston mayor for the primary time Friday evening.

Whereas circuitously naming Mayor Michelle Wu, the Kraft patriarch alluded to the favored incumbent’s deal with his household’s wealth and longtime friendship with President Donald Trump all through the mayoral marketing campaign, saying that makes an attempt to outline his son Josh Kraft by both are “false narratives.”

“There are always voices that try to define someone by narratives that aren’t theirs to tell,” Robert Kraft stated Friday at an occasion at Roxbury Neighborhood Faculty. “Throughout this race, some have tried to tie Josh to notions of entitlement or to affiliations that they understand to be damaging which are actually not his affiliations.

“That’s unfair to Josh,” his father continued. “He should be viewed as his own person. He’s traveled a path that he’s forged as his own. His record, his integrity, and his passion for this city and the people speak louder than any false narratives or misguided suggestions.”

The Patriots proprietor urged voters to evaluate his son Josh — a longtime philanthropist who headed the Boys and Ladies Golf equipment of Boston earlier than departing to steer his household’s charitable arm, the New England Patriots Basis — “on his track record and merits, and not on these false narratives that others have tried to push.”

Attempting to capitalize on his father’s star energy marks a departure of types for the way Josh Kraft has sought to run his mayoral marketing campaign up to now — but it surely additionally comes at a time when the newest ballot outcomes present him 30 factors behind Wu within the race, with the Sept. 9 preliminary election bearing down.

Josh Kraft has made concerted efforts to distance himself from his household’s enterprise connections within the metropolis, notably because it pertains to the Kraft Group’s proposed Everett soccer stadium.

He has stated that he would recuse himself from any negotiations between the Kraft Group, which his father owns, and the Metropolis of Boston, over mitigation for site visitors and parking impacts the stadium can have on the close by Charlestown neighborhood. However Wu has acknowledged that Josh Kraft’s potential conflicts of curiosity because it pertains to his household’s enterprise might influence his skill to function mayor.

The Wu marketing campaign has additionally sought to tie her opponent to President Trump, who has a longtime friendship with Robert Kraft, and simply this week launched a press release saying that “Josh Kraft’s campaign is being propped up by billionaires, Trump donors and lawyers engaged in implementing Donald Trump’s anti-Boston agenda.”

Josh Kraft, for his half, has spoken critically about President Trump, emphasizing that he’s by no means voted for him, and supported Kamala Harris. He repeated these statements once more Friday when requested why he selected to host a marketing campaign occasion together with his father when he beforehand sought to tell apart himself from his rich household all through the race.

“I wanted my father here, because I’ve been focused on policy the entire time, and I also know how lucky I am to have a family like my family,” Kraft advised reporters. “It’s not about money, it’s about the lessons my dad and my late mother have taught me about community and building equity, equitable services for everyone, and this was a great night to share that vision with him.”

Of the place he says he differs politically from his father, Kraft stated, “I’m a Democrat. I really like my dad. We might agree on many issues. We disagree on Donald Trump, as I’ve stated a variety of instances.

“But as you just heard, my dad, he’s done a lot of great work, and I’d be lucky to make as much of an impact for the rest of my life,” Josh Kraft stated.

He was referring to his father Robert Kraft’s function as co-founder of the REFORM Alliance, a nonprofit centered on probation, parole and sentencing reform, and work serving to ex-convicts transition again into society.

The Patriots proprietor and one of many nonprofit’s different co-founders, rapper Meek Mill, have been panelists on a reentry-focused discussion board hosted by former U.S. Lawyer Rachael Rollins, who resigned in shame in Could 2023, upon the issuance of two federal stories that discovered she abused her place.

On the discussion board, Mill recounted he reached out to his now shut good friend Robert Kraft, who helped to advocate for his launch from jail after visiting him whereas he was behind bars in 2018. Mill was sentenced to 2 to 4 years in jail in November 2017 for violating his probation after failing a drug check, touring out of the area and getting arrested for preventing and different offenses, per an ESPN report.

Mill, Kraft and Rollins spoke of how they noticed the sentence as being unusually harsh on the discussion board, and reflective of racial bias within the legal justice system. Mill’s jail sentence sparked the hashtag “FreeMeekMill,” and led different celebrities to rally for his launch, together with Jay-Z, one other rapper and co-founder of REFORM Alliance.

Mill, 38, was initially convicted of drug and gun expenses in 2008, and was pardoned by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf in 2023.

Josh Kraft, in a marketing campaign speech given to attendees after the discussion board he hosted, spoke of the reentry plan for ex-convicts he rolled out earlier within the mayoral race, saying the problem can be a central focus for him ought to he be elected.