Hilary Knight, the captain of the U.S. women’s hockey team, is ready to put the men’s team President Trump fiasco to bed once and for all. On Wednesday, Knight appeared on ESPN to talk about Team USA’s historic win over Canada at the Winter Games and was asked how she felt about Trump joking to the men’s hockey team that he’s “going to have to bring” the women’s team to the White House too. Knight, a five-time Olympic medalist, said it was a “distasteful joke that is overshadowing a lot of the success — the success of women at the Olympics carrying for Team USA and having amazing gold-medal feats.”
During a separate press conference for the Seattle Torrent on Wednesday, Knight reiterated that she found the joke “distasteful and unfortunate.” She instead urged viewers to see the controversy as “a great teaching point to really shine light on how women should be championed.” Visibly frustrated, she added, “Now I have to sit in front of you and explain someone else’s behavior. It’s not my responsibility.”
Kelly Pannek, an Olympic team member who plays for the Minnesota Frost, also told reporters on Wednesday that Trump’s joke was “not surprising, to be frank.” “I don’t know why we expect differently?” she said. “But I think for us, it’s also just about getting back to the focus on our team and what our team accomplished: dominant hockey.”
The women’s hockey team certainly has a lot to celebrate. After knocking out Canada in overtime, they secured the program’s third all-time Olympic gold. As for Knight, she has a pretty significant personal development to celebrate: She proposed to Olympic speed skater Brittany Bowe in the middle of the Milan Cortina Winter Games. Maybe we can ask her about that instead?