Hilary Knight, the star of the U.S. Women’s Olympic hockey team, used a Saturday Night Live appearance to deliver a pointed response to a joke made by former President Donald Trump about the team’s potential White House visit.
Last month, the U.S. Women’s team secured a gold medal at the Olympics, defeating Canada in a thrilling overtime victory. Knight scored the opening goal in the final. Following the U.S. Men’s hockey team’s own gold medal win, Trump joked that he would have to invite the women’s team to the White House as well, or face impeachment. The comment, made during an appearance, drew laughter from some members of the men’s team.
Knight, who recently completed her final Olympics, described Trump’s remark as “distasteful and unfortunate.” She and her teammates ultimately declined an invitation to the White House, opting instead to celebrate their victory at an event in July hosted by rapper Flavor Flav, according to reports.
On Saturday Night Live, Knight appeared alongside teammate Megan Keller, who scored the overtime winner, and members of the U.S. Men’s team, Jack and Quinn Hughes. The segment was hosted by Connor Storrie of Heated Rivalry. When discussing the invitation to the White House, Knight quipped, “It was going to be just us, but we thought we’d invite the guys too.” Keller added, “We thought we’d provide them a little moment to shine.”
Several players from the U.S. Men’s team have since expressed regret over their reaction to Trump’s joke. Charlie McAvoy of the Boston Bruins stated he was “certainly sorry for how we responded to it in that moment.”
During the SNL appearance, Knight similarly highlighted the U.S. Women’s team’s sustained success, noting that their last Olympic gold medal predated the men’s recent victory. When Quinn Hughes mentioned the U.S. Men’s gold was their first since 1980, Knight responded, “The last time we did that was two whole Olympics ago.” Jack Hughes smiled and acknowledged, “Nice burn.”
Megan Keller lauded Knight’s leadership following the Olympic win, stating, “She’s the leader of our group, the heartbeat. We don’t get here without her. I can’t say enough great things about her, and to cap off her Olympic career in this fashion, [I’m] just so happy for her.”
