Trump skates on Team USA’s hockey wins during State of the Union address
By Betsy Klein, CNN
(CNN) — President Donald Trump basked in the gold medal glory of the US Olympic men’s hockey team Tuesday, spending roughly six minutes of his State of the Union address celebrating their victory after meeting with the team in the Oval Office earlier in the day.
His recognition of the team marked one of the few bipartisan moments of the speech, receiving lengthy, raucous applause and chants of “USA” — and proving that sports, even in a time of intense political polarization, can bring people together.
It came after some controversy following the team’s historic 2-1 Olympic victory over Canada. Trump regaled the men’s team by phone Sunday as the athletes celebrated in the locker room in Italy, inviting them to his address and even offering to send a military plane to bring them — and the gold-medal-winning women’s hockey team — to Washington, DC.
“I must tell you, we’re gonna have to bring the women’s team — you do know that,” Trump said over a speakerphone held by FBI Director Kash Patel.
If the women weren’t invited, the president said to laughter in the locker room, “I do believe I probably would be impeached, OK?”
The moment — and the players’ response — prompted significant backlash on social media.
Both the men’s and women’s hockey teams were formally invited to attend Trump’s address, according to a spokesperson for the women’s team. The women declined the invitation, citing prior academic and professional commitments. Trump said during his Tuesday speech that the women’s team would soon be coming to the White House.
But members of the men’s team climbed aboard a military plane, landing at Joint Base Andrews on Tuesday afternoon in matching navy American flag sweaters accessorized with their medals. They spent time with the president inside the Oval Office, with Trump trying on Matthew Tkachuk’s gold medal and joking he didn’t plan to give it back.
Tuesday evening, they played a starring role in Trump’s big speech as he introduced the athletes to drive home an argument that the country is “winning again.”
“Our country is winning again. In fact, we’re winning so much that we really don’t know what to do about it,” Trump said.
He continued: “To prove that point, to prove that perfect here with us tonight is a group of winners who just made the entire nation proud: the men’s gold medal Olympic hockey team. Come on in.”
In a dramatic entrance, the team arrived in the House chamber through sets of double doors into the press gallery and received a standing ovation from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever seen them get up,” Trump mused of the Democrats.
Trump also announced that he would award the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, to goalie Connor Hellebuyck, whose performance was key to the first American men’s hockey gold medal since 1980.
“I will soon be presenting Connor with our highest civilian honor … the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Great athletes have gotten that — very great, the best, and I thought he deserved it,” Trump said.
Some of the team members were not in attendance, according to a spokesperson for USA Hockey, who pointed to the National Hockey League schedule, which resumes Wednesday.
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