Jack Hughes Reacts To U.S. Men’s Hockey Team ‘Backlash’ After Phone Call With Donald Trump

Team USA’s Jack Hughes is speaking out on “backlash” the men’s ice hockey team received over a viral phone call with Donald Trump following their Olympic victory. After the team won gold for the first time in 46 years, they celebrated in the locker room where they were joined by FBI director Kash Patel, who called the president. While on speaker phone, Trump extended the group an invite to the State of the Union on Feb. 24 and the White House. He then brought up the women’s ice hockey team, who also won gold at the Olympics, as he said with a laugh, “I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team, you do know that.” As the players also laughed, he went on to quip that he “probably would be impeached” otherwise. After the video circulated on social media, the women’s team declined the State of the Union invitation, due to “timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games.” “We are sincerely grateful for the invitation extended to our gold medal–winning U.S. Women’s Hockey Team and deeply appreciate the recognition of their extraordinary achievement,” the statement added. On Feb. 23, Hughes, who scored the team’s winning goal, weighed in on the controversy during an interview with Daily Mail, telling the outlet that he and the team are “super excited” to go to the White House and meet Trump. He also addressed the women’s team skipping the SOTU, saying in part, “They’ve got busy schedules, too. Everyone is giving us backlash for all the social media stuff today. It’s so negative — people are so negative out there and they are just trying to find a reason to put people down and make something out of almost nothing.”