Hilary Knight wasn’t a fan of President Donald Trump’s “distasteful joke” about the United States women’s hockey team.
Trump and the men’s U.S. hockey team were seen laughing on Sunday after the president invited them to be his guests at Tuesday night’s State of the Union address.
Trump joked during the call that he had to invite the women’s team after they won the gold medal, or else “I believe I probably would be impeached.”
“I thought it was sort of a distasteful joke and 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,” Knight, the captain of the women’s team, said during a Wednesday appearance on “SportsCenter.”
“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. And really not detract from that with a distasteful joke.”
After backlash on social media for their reaction to the quip about the women’s squad, U.S. men’s stars Jack and Quinn Hughes spoke out about “how much [they] support them, how proud [they] are of them.”
Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman admitted that the men’s team “should’ve reacted differently” to Trump’s quip.
“We know that we are so excited for the women’s team,” Swayman said. “We have so much respect for the women’s team. To share that gold medal with them is something we’re forever grateful for.”
Knight backed up her fellow American hockey players, saying they were put “in a tough spot.”
“I think there’s a genuine level of support there and respect,” she said. “I think that’s being overshadowed by a quick lapse. I think the guys were in a tough spot, so I think it’s a shame this storyline and narrative has kind of blown up and overshadowed that connection and genuine interest in one another and cheering each other on.”