After Trump’s ‘distasteful’ joke, Sun Valley hockey star Knight focuses on ‘success’
President Donald Trump’s phone call with Team USA’s men’s hockey team in the locker room after their Olympic gold-medal victory over Canada erupted into controversy online.
And Sun Valley’s Hilary Knight — the captain of Team USA’s women’s hockey team — has been speaking out about it. The women also won gold at the Olympics, and Knight scored the game-tying goal against Canada to send the contest into overtime.
“I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team, you do know that?” Trump told the men’s team during the call, eliciting laughs in the background., while referring to having the teams at the White House.
He then said, “I do believe I probably would be impeached” if he didn’t invite the women.
Knight, playing in her fifth Olympics, is the most decorated player in U.S. women’s hockey history. She ranks first among Americans with 15 goals and 33 career points.
“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 said on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” on Wednesday.
“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.”
Knight insisted the men’s and women’s teams remain “tight,” and the moment was simply a lapse in judgment.
“I think there’s a genuine level of support there and respect,” Knight 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 overshadowing that connection and genuine interest in one another, and cheering each other on.”
At a press conference, Knight also talked about her reluctance to be in the spotlight trying to “explain someone else’s behavior. It’s not my responsibility.”
The men’s team attended the State of the Union address Tuesday night, but the women’s team declined the invitation, citing timing and scheduling conflicts.
Knight went on to tell “SportsCenter” that the controversy was a “really good learning point, to really focus on how we talk about women, not only in sport but in industry. Women aren’t less than, and their achievements shouldn’t be overshadowed by anything else other than how great they are.”
Men’s player Jack Hughes, who scored Team USA’s game-winner over Canada, reiterated their support for the women’s team in an interview with “Good Morning America.”
“Our relationship with them, over the course of being in the Olympic Village, I think we are so tight with their group,” 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.
“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.”
