Patriots clarify White House turnout photos for President Obama vs. President Trump

The New England Patriots clarified a photo highlighting the team's White House turnout in 2015 vs. 2017

The New England Patriots issued a clarification after a photo comparison of team photos with President Obama and President Trump highlighted the amount of no-show players for the White House visit.

The New York Times' sports account tweeted a photo from the Patriots' 2015 visit with President Obama and it showed dozens more people than Wednesday's photo with President Trump.

A Patriots spokesman said that the 2015 photo included Patriots staff members, such as trainers and other personnel. On Wednesday, those members of the staff were seated.

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

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

The Times issued a clarification to the tweet Wednesday night after the Patriots’ objected and sports editor Jason Stallman issued a statement Thursday morning to Yahoo’s Colin Campbell. 

UPDATE: Patriots say # of players was smaller this year than 2015 (34 vs. 50) but total delegation was roughly the same. pic.twitter.com/Ij77Def8z5

— NYT Sports (@NYTSports) April 20, 2017

President Trump lashed out at the “failing” Times in a tweet Thursday morning.

Failing @nytimes, which has been calling me wrong for two years, just got caught in a big lie concerning New England Patriots visit to W.H.

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

About two dozen players skipped the White House visit. Quarterback Tom Brady missed the visit due to “personal family matters.” Some of the other players cited reasons pertaining to President Trump and his administration for skipping the visit.