Donald Trump’s latest ploy to convince the American public that everything is fine involves hyping up Team USA’s men’s hockey team and repeating the word “winning” a lot. On Tuesday night, Trump gave his State of the Union address, during which he spent six minutes congratulating the hockey guys on their gold medal without celebrating any other Olympic wins. “Our country is winning again. In fact, we’re winning so much that we really don’t know what to do about it,” Trump said. “To prove that perfect point, here with us tonight is a group of winners who just made the entire nation proud: the men’s gold-medal Olympic hockey team.”
Fresh off their historic defeat of Canada in the Olympic finals, the athletes entered the House chamber through double doors, marching into the press gallery in two lines while lawmakers chanted “USA!” Once the standing ovation ended, Trump dedicated a sizable chunk of his historically long speech to praising the team and announced that he planned to award “our highest civilian honor,” the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to goalie Connor Hellebuyck. Why? Because “great athletes have gotten that — very great, the best, and I thought he deserved it,” Trump said. For reference, past Medal of Freedom honorees include Rosa Parks, Hillary Clinton, Maya Angelou, and Billie Jean King.
The team may have gotten bipartisan applause, but their presence in the Capitol has only intensified the controversy surrounding their win. After beating Canada on Sunday, the athletes retreated to their locker room to drink beer and yell with FBI director Kash Patel, who facilitated a phone call with President Trump. As is customary for Olympic athletes, Trump invited the team to the White House for the SOTU address, though not without making a demeaning dig at the women’s hockey team (who also won gold). Ahead of his White House visit, Team USA’s star player Jack Hughes defended his team’s chumminess with Trump. “When you get the chance to go to the White House and meet the president,” he said, “we’re proud to be Americans, and that’s so patriotic.”
You know who I think is patriotic? The women’s hockey team, who politely declined their pity invite to visit the Oval Office due to “the timing” and “previously scheduled academic and professional commitments.” Trump, however, claimed during his SOTU address that the women’s team will “soon be coming to the White House.” He’s always been good at dreaming big.