Hilary Knight, captain of the US women's ice hockey team, has criticised Donald Trump for what she called a “distasteful joke” after the president made a comment about inviting the women's team to the State of the Union address.
During a phone call to the men's team's locker room following their gold medal win, Trump said: “I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team. You do know that. I do believe I probably would be impeached [if the women’s team wasn’t invited].” Several men's players were seen laughing in a video that went viral.
Knight, a five-time Olympic medallist, told SportsCenter: “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.” She added that the focus should be on celebrating the women's achievements and the historic double gold for both teams.
The women's team declined an invitation to the White House and State of the Union, citing scheduling conflicts. Trump said they would visit “soon”, but USA Hockey has not confirmed any plans.
Knight, who announced the Olympics would be her last, said: “I think this is a really good learning point to focus on how we talk about women, not only in sport but in industry. Women aren’t less than. Our achievements shouldn’t be overshadowed by anything else other than how great they are.”
