Hilary Knight Responds to President Trump's 'Distasteful' Olympic Joke
Hilary Knight scored the tying goal in the third period of the gold medal match, and Team USA would go on to steal the gold from Canada in overtime. Megan Keller scored the winner, but it wouldn't have been possible without the earlier goal of the most decorated American hockey player, man or woman.
After the men followed suit with an overtime win over Canada for gold, President Donald Trump joked about having to invite the women since they also won. It and the men's team have received tons of backlash, and Knight just commented on the issue as well.
Hilary Knight claps back over Trump joke
While on the phone with the men's team, President Donald Trump joked that he'd be impeached if he didn't invite the women's team to the State of the Union address. They would eventually decline the invite, but it was clear Trump at least jokingly viewed the women as less deserving of an invite than the men.
That was met with tons of backlash. Now, Hilary Knight, the leader of the women's side, has responded via ESPN, "I thought it was sort of a distasteful joke. Unfortunately, that is overshadowing a lot of the success, the success of just women at the Olympics carrying for Team USA and having amazing gold medal feats."
She continued, hoping that the comments from the president don't take away from two excellent efforts this year. "We're just focusing on celebrating the women in our room, the extraordinary efforts, and continue to celebrate three gold medals in program history as well as the double gold for both men's and women's at the same time," she said. "And really not detract from that with a distasteful joke."
She also said she was excited to celebrate all the great American things that have come out of the 2026 Olympics in Milan. She hopes to feel the love and support for USA hockey as they both return from gold medal victories and get back to NHL and PWHL play.
Jack Hughes, Quinn Hughes respond
Jack Hughes scored the winning goal over Canada, and he and his brother are seen as two of the faces of US Hockey. They were asked about the women's team and Donald Trump's phone call after returning to the United States, and both attempted to shut down any ill will between the two teams.
"Our relationship with them, over the course of being in the Olympic Village, I think we are so tight with their group," Jack Hughes said. "After we won the gold medal, we were in the cafeteria at 3:30 a.m. in the morning with them. We go from there, pack our bags and we're on the bus."
He added, "People are so negative about things. I think everyone in that locker room knows how much we support them, how proud we are of them. The same way we feel about them, they feel about us."
As for how they responded to the joke, Hughes admitted fault, as did Jeremy Swayman. The goaltender said they should have reacted differently on the phone. Furthermore, Hughes said that they had admittedly gotten caught up in the moment.
"You're in the moment and the president calls. We're blaring the music. It is what it is," Hughes said. "We have so much respect for the women's team and they have so much respect for us. We are all just proud Americans."
For what it's worth, Hilary Knight didn't take much from that moment. She feels that there is a "genuine" amount of respect and support between the men and women. Knight said it has been "overshadowed by a quick lapse" by the men. She also added that they were in a tough spot on the phone with the leader of the country.
