Brady Tkachuk decries White House’s AI video of him insulting Canadians after US gold | USA ice hockey team
American ice hockey star Brady Tkachuk said he didn’t like an AI video released by the White House that showed him insulting Canadians.
Tkachuk participated in the Americans’ victory over Canada in the Winter Olympics on Sunday, which gave the American men their first gold medal since 1980. Following the victory, the White House TikTok account posted a video of Tkachuk saying, “They booed our national anthem, so I had to come out and teach those maple syrup-eating assholes a lesson.”
Tkachuk never said those words and the video, which has been viewed more than 10 million times, is labeled as AI-generated.
“Well, that’s clearly wrong, because it’s not my voice, it’s not my lips that are moving,” Tkachuk said Thursday. “I don’t control any of these accounts. I know those words will never come out of my mouth. So there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Tkachuk has good reasons to stand out from the video: he plays in the Canadian capital, where he is captain of the Ottawa Senators.
“That’s not my voice. That’s not what I was saying,” he continued. “I would never say that. That’s not who I am, so I guess I don’t like that video because it would never come out of my mouth and I never thought about it.”
Donald Trump called out Team USA after his victory and some believe Tkachuk could be heard shouting “Close the northern border” as the president congratulated the team. He denied the claims on Thursday.
“I’ve seen things that people think is me. But if you watch the video, it’s not my voice or something I never say,” Tkachuk said. “I don’t know how it got this way when I’m giving everything I have here. It’s crazy when things happen on social media, how fast they go. I would never say something like that.”
The fallout from Trump’s call, which was caught on video, doesn’t stop there. The president was accused of making a joke at the expense of the U.S. women’s team during the call, when he invited the men’s players to the White House to celebrate their gold medal.
“I have to tell you, we’re going to have to bring in the women’s team, you know that,” Trump said before laughing and adding that he would be “impeached” if he didn’t. Some players laughed at the joke. The Americans also won gold at this year’s Olympics.
On Wednesday, U.S. captain Hilary Knight called the joke “distasteful.” On Thursday, Tkachuk said he understood why Knight and his teammates would be insulted by Trump’s comments and the reactions of some players.
“I mean, I understand,” he said. “We support them, they support us. You can’t control what other people say. It was fun being around them, seeing how they play and the excellence around them. If I see any of them, we’ll talk about the excitement of what we can control, which is being a gold medalist.”
Tkachuk said his teammates’ laughter at Trump’s comments may have come from being caught off guard. “You talk to the president 10 minutes after you realize your dream,” he said.
Tkachuk was among 20 American players who visited Trump at the White House after his victory and attended Tuesday’s State of the Union address. The women’s team declined the invitation, citing travel and scheduling issues.
“It was special,” Tkachuk said of the visit. “As an American citizen, you never really think you’re going to see the White House and be in the Oval Office.”
The women’s team has not yet determined whether they will travel to the White House — Trump mentioned his plans in his Tuesday speech but nothing has been confirmed — but they have reportedly accepted an invitation from rapper and women’s sports enthusiast Flavor Flav to attend an event in Las Vegas celebrating their gold medal.
Flavor Flav issued his invitation shortly after the women declined the State of the Union trip. The team accepted his invitation without notice from USA Hockey, according to the Associated Press, and it is unclear whether all players will attend.
