President Donald Trump seemed to get a little too excited as he brought out Olympians during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night.
Trump, 79, appeared to blow out his microphone after he yelled out his introduction of the gold-winning U.S. men’s hockey team roughly 12 minutes into his 108-minute speech, which is now the longest such address in history.
“The state of our union is strong. Our country is winning again. In fact, we’re winning so much that we really don’t know what to do about it. People are asking me, ‘Please, please, please, Mr. President, we’re winning too much. We can’t take it anymore,’” he said.
“And I say, ‘No, no, no, you’re going to win again. You’re going to win big. You’re going to win bigger than ever,” Trump continued, his voice rising steadily as he worked up to his bombastic introduction. “And to prove that 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. Come on in.”
The room erupted into applause and a standing ovation from many, but not all, as the team walked into the room.
Trump’s audio was noticeably garbled during the introduction, with the glitch carrying over to the broadcasts of CNN, MS Now, and Fox News, the New York Times reported.
The White House did not immediately return a request for comment.
Trump also took the opportunity to announce that he was awarding goaltender Connor Hellebuyck with the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom—one of several awards he announced throughout the night.
“I just want to tell you that the members of this great hockey squad will be very happy to hear based on their vote and my vote—and in this case, my vote was more important—that I will soon be presenting Connor with our highest civilian honor, which we will be giving, and which has been given to many athletes over the years,” he said.
The president also gave the Legion of Merit award to Coast Guard rescue swimmer Scott Ruskan for his efforts during last summer’s Texas floods, and the Purple Heart to Andrew Wolfe and the late Sarah Beckstrom, the two National Guard members who were shot in Washington, D.C., last year.
The Trump administration has lavished particular attention on the U.S. men’s hockey team—so much so that FBI Director Kash Patel drew flak for being caught partying with Olympians on what the agency described as a work trip.
Videos captured Patel chugging beer and singing his heart out in the locker room after Team USA emerged victorious in its highly anticipated match-up against Team Canada at the Winter Olympics in Italy.
“For the very concerned media - yes, I love America and was extremely humbled when my friends, the newly minted Gold Medal winners on Team USA, invited me into the locker room to celebrate this historic moment with the boys,” Patel wrote on X. “Greatest country on earth and greatest sport on earth.”
