Hilary Knight, the captain of the U.S. Olympic women’s ice hockey team, recently shared her thoughts on a comment made by Donald Trump that she found to be “sexist,” following the team’s gold medal success.
The issue arose during the celebratory moments of the U.S. men’s ice hockey team. While congratulating them, Trump called into their locker room and extended an invitation to the State of the Union at the White House.
Trump, while on speakerphone, jestingly remarked, “I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team. You do know that. I do believe I probably would be impeached [if the women’s team wasn’t invited].” The comment drew chuckles from some of the men’s players, but five-time Olympic medalist Hilary Knight didn’t find it amusing.
The Reaction From Hilary Knight
Knight expressed disappointment, emphasizing the need to center on celebrating women’s achievements: “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,” she mentioned.
Her priority is celebrating her team’s incredible efforts: “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.”
This response spurred a wider discussion. On Good Morning America, forward Jack Hughes countered: “People are so negative about things. I think everyone in that locker room knows how much we support [the women’s team], how proud we are of them. The same way we feel about them, they feel about us.”
Understanding Among Teams
Knight acknowledged that the incident took attention away from the genuine camaraderie: “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 overshadowing that connection and genuine interest in one another and cheering each other on.”
Supporting her view, Kelly Pannek, a two-time Olympic gold medallist, added: “We all know being there what it felt like to have [the men’s team’s] support throughout the tournament, to support them and how great of a moment it was for everyone who was a fan of both teams.”
Kelly commented on Trump’s remark, “The phone call specifically, it’s not surprising, to be frank. I don’t know why we’d expect differently.”
On the other side, U.S. men’s goaltender Jeremy Swayman expressed how the men’s team could have reacted differently: “We know that we’re so excited for the women’s team, we have so much respect for the women’s team,” he said, emphasizing, “To share that gold medal with them is something that we’re forever grateful for.”
