A former friend and backer of President Trump has been caught on leaked tapes slamming the President back in 2017. Billionaire NFL owner Robert Kraft, in tapes published by TMZ can be heard criticizing the President for his stand against NFL players kneeling for the National Anthem.

On the recording, you hear the New England Patriots owner tell his NFL owner colleagues, “The elephant in the room now, in my opinion, is this kneeling, which every player has a right to do if they feel it’s right. The problem we have is, we have a President that will use that as fodder to do his mission that I don’t feel is in the best interest of the matter. It’s divisive and it’s horrible.”

He went on to criticize Americans who agreed with the President that the kneeling players were a bad thing. Kraft says, “We’ve lost the message to America, because there’s just 40 percent of the people who just see this as whatever their own bigotry or misunderstandings are.”

This is an interesting about-face for Kraft who is a long-time friend of the President and donated $1 million to his inauguration fund. Kraft has even given President Trump and Melania credit for helping him through the death of his wife Myra n 2011.

Kraft is no stranger to controversy himself. Earlier this year, he was arrested for visiting a prostitute multiple times at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, FL. One of those visits came the same day as his Patriots played in the AFC Championship Game. In March, he pleaded not guilty and as requested a jury trial.