ICE HOCKEY: Knight calls out Trump for 'distasteful joke', focuses on US women's Olympic gold

Hilary Knight, captain of the U.S. women’s ice hockey team and a gold medalist at the Winter Olympics, did not hold back when addressing remarks made by President Donald Trump about her team following the American men’s gold medal victory.

After the U.S. men defeated Canada on Sunday, they took a call from Trump in their locker room, which included FBI Director Kash Patel. During the call, the president invited the men to Tuesday’s State of the Union and a White House visit.

“I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team, you do know that?” Trump said, later joking that failing to invite the women’s team could lead to his impeachment.

Knight called the comment “a distasteful joke” that overshadowed the accomplishments of women at the Olympics. “Unfortunately, that is overshadowing a lot of the success—the success of just women at the Olympics carrying Team USA and having amazing gold medal feats,” she told ESPN.

A White House official confirmed that, as Trump stated, they look forward to hosting the women’s team, though the team has not confirmed any plans to visit. The U.S. women’s team declined the State of the Union invite, explaining that their schedule and prior commitments prevented attendance.

Knight emphasized celebrating her team’s achievements rather than political remarks. “We’re just focusing on celebrating the women in our room, the extraordinary efforts, and continuing to celebrate three gold medals in program history, as well as the double gold for both men’s and women’s teams at the same time,” she said. “And really not detract from that with a distasteful joke.”

In the women’s gold medal game, Knight scored a key goal by deflecting a shot from Laila Edwards past Canadian goalie Renee Desbiens with just over two minutes remaining, sending the game into overtime. Megan Keller then secured Team USA’s third Olympic gold medal in women’s ice hockey.

Knight’s goal marked her 15th career Olympic goal and 33rd career Games point, setting new records for all-time goals and points in U.S. Olympic women’s hockey history. -Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Ed Osmond and Michael Perry/Reuters