Newly minted Olympic hockey gold medallist Brady Tkachuk called out the White House for posting an AI-generated video of him insulting Canadians.
Tkachuk was featured in a video posted to the White House TikTok account in which he can be seen saying, “They booed our national anthem, so I had to come out and teach those maple syrup-eating f---ers a lesson.” The video is labelled as containing AI-generated media.
Tkachuk, whose mother is from the Canadian city of Winnipeg, is the captain of the Canadian-based Ottawa Senators, but represented the U.S. alongside his brother Matthew at the Milan Olympics, where their team defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime in last Sunday’s gold medal game.
Speaking to reporters upon his return to Ottawa after visiting the White House and attending the State of the Union with his teammates, Tkachuk was asked how he felt about the video.
“It’s clearly fake, ‘cause it’s not my voice and not my lips moving, I’m not in control of any of those accounts, and I know that those words would never come out of my mouth, so I can’t do anything about it,” Tkachuk replied.
When asked if he liked the video, Tkachuk said, “Did I like it? I mean it’s not my voice, not what I was saying... I would never say that, that’s not who I am, so I guess I don’t like that video ’cause that would just never come out of my mouth, never a thought, and I’ll leave it at that.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
Being the captain of one of seven Canadian-based NHL teams at a time of increased tension after Trump’s repeated threats to annex the country, Tkachuk has faced significant scrutiny over his team’s conduct following their Olympic victory.
After videos were leaked featuring FBI Director Kash Patel partying in the U.S. men’s locker room after their win, several players were questioned as to why they could be seen laughing at a joke the president made at the expense of the U.S. women’s hockey team that women’s captain Hilary Knight called “distasteful.”
Tkachuk told reporters that some of the laughter may have been because players were caught off guard, adding, “You’re talking to the president 10 minutes after you achieve your dream.”
In the same video, one person can be heard shouting, “Close the northern border,” with speculation quickly growing online that it was Tkachuk, 26, who had done so.
Asked about the remark by reporters on Thursday, Tkachuk denied it was him, telling reporters, “I mean, I’ve been seeing stuff that people think it’s me, but if you watch the video, that’s not my voice and something that I never say.”
“I don’t really know how that kind of took a storm on its own when, you know, I play here... that’s something that never a thought would happen in my head and especially would never say it,” he added.
Prior to the gold medal game against Canada, Tkachuk told ESPN of the U.S. team’s feelings towards their rivals, “There’s hatred there.”
”I mean, they’ve been the top dog. They’ve been the best for the last bunch of years, and for us, we want to be in that position, be the best. So it’s going to be a game where I think a lot of guys could say, this is the biggest game that they’ve ever played in."
Tensions were further exacerbated by the team’s decision to visit the White House and attend the State of the Union on Thursday, where they were repeatedly used as props by Trump. During his speech, the president announced that goaltender Connor Hellebuyck would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Tkachuk’s brother, Matthew, also made waves when he presented Trump with his gold medal during their White House visit despite the 79-year-old’s history of stealing awards that he did not earn.
“Yeah, I’ll put it on,” Trump told Matthew, who plays for the Florida Panthers and is two years Brady’s senior. “And I’m not giving it back.”
The women’s team, whom Trump had complained about having to invite to the White House, declined the president’s invitation, citing prior professional and academic commitments.
