On February 22, the US Men’s hockey team defeated Canada in overtime with a score of 2-1 to win the gold in the Milan Winter Olympics, the women’s US hockey team had also won gold, defeating Canada 2-1 in a dramatic overtime thriller as well. However, this celebration was cut short after distasteful remarks from the president as well as the team.
In the locker room following their historic win, President Trump called the team to invite them to Tuesday’s State of the Union address. He then made a joke that he would “have” to invite the women’s hockey team — who also won a gold medal at the games — or else “I do believe I probably would be impeached.” The team then erupts in laughter at the remark made about the women.
Many of the players in the locker room that day have come out, explaining that the whole situation was a mistake. Team USA player Charlie McAvoy apologized for the behavior. “If you know the men’s team and you know the relationships that we have, the amount of time that we’ve spent with the women’s team and how we’ve supported them, it’s certainly not reflective of how we feel and look at them, and their accomplishments,”McAvoy said in response to a reporter’s question in the locker room.
Numerous of the Team USA women’s players addressed the president’s controversial remarks. Women’s hockey star and Olympic gold medalist Hilary Knight stated, “I thought the call in itself was distasteful and an awesome learning moment to refocus the narrative and understand our words matter, and how we speak about women matters, and we need to celebrate this team,” Knight then chose to focus on the positives, highlighting the huge win the women’s team had under her captainship.
Sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live has recently made light of the situation by inviting two of the women’s players and two of the men’s players to be part of the opening monologue. SNL made a jab at the men’s team for their visit to meet President Donald Trump at the White House, as well as the joke Trump had made about the women’s team. “It was going to be just us, but we thought we’d invite the guys, too,” women’s Captain Hilary Knight said in the skit. “Yeah, we thought we’d give them a little moment to shine,” her teammate Megan Keller added.
Along with that, men’s hockey star Quinn Hughes said the US men’s gold medal was their first since 1980, Knight replied: “The last time we did that was two whole Olympics ago.”Jack Hughes smiled and said “Nice burn.” This appearance seemed to alleviate the negativity towards the men’s team but not so much for President Trump.
Critics noted a disconnect between this dismissal and Trump’s frequent “Save Women’s Sports” campaign rhetoric. They argued the joke revealed that his support for female athletes was a political tool rather than a genuine appreciation for their skill. This moment between the president and the men’s hockey team just showed how belittled women’s athletic teams are and just how much they must fight to be respected equally. This isn’t just about hockey, it’s about respect for women’s sports
