It’s a shame that Donald Trump’s bad behavior has overshadowed the accomplishments of some of the nation’s most impressive women.
I think most of us were proud of the Team USA athletes who competed recently at the 25th Olympic Winter Games in Italy — especially those who came home with medals.
The most prominent of those athletes were the hockey teams — men and women — who won gold medals after thrilling final games against our neighbor and hockey rival, Canada. Those victories were absolutely worth celebration.
But Trump had to ruin it, abetted by FBI Director Kash Patel.
We’ll get back to Patel in a minute.
It’s fitting for a U.S. president to congratulate a U.S. team on an international victory, but Trump couldn’t leave it at that.
In a phone call — via Patel — in the men’s locker room after the game, Trump invited the players to the then-upcoming State of the Union speech. Fair enough, but what came next was not.
“I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team, you do know that,” and then added that, if he didn’t, “I do believe I probably would be impeached.”
It was the kind of “bro” moment that has defined Trump’s public life. Women are ornaments or handmaidens in his orbit, either there to do his bidding or look pretty. Independent women, who show pride in who they are, are not needed.
Where was the call to the women’s locker room after their victory?
Olympian Hilary Knight called out the misogyny while maintaining decorum.
“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,” Knight said on ESPN’s “SportsCenter.”
“We’re just focusing on celebrating the women in our room, the extraordinary efforts, and continue to celebrate three gold medals in program history as well as the double gold for both men’s and women’s at the same time. And really not detract from that with a distasteful joke,” she said
The men’s hockey team is taking heat for laughing at Trump’s remark. Some of them deserve it. Some don’t.
Knight addressed that, too. “I think there’s a genuine level of support there and respect (between the men’s and women’s teams), and I think that’s being overshadowed by sort of a quick lapse,” Knight said.
“The guys were in a tough spot, so it’s a shame that sort of this storyline and narrative has kind of blown up and overshadowing kind of that connection and genuine interest in one another and cheering one another on.”
Men’s team goalie Jeremy Swayman, whose professional career is with the Boston Bruins, admitted as much.
“We should’ve reacted differently,” he said, as quoted by New England Hockey Journal’s Evan Marinofsky.
“We know that we’re so excited for the women’s team. We have so much respect for the women’s team, and to share that gold medal with them is something that we’re forever grateful for.”
Indeed, even at the time of Trump’s “bro” moment, while some players guffawed, others could be heard chanting “two for two,” acknowledging the success of both teams.
Good for them.
In the end, the women were invited to the speech. Maintaining their dignity, they declined, citing timing and previous commitments.
Back to Patel: How embarrassing was it to see the director of our most professional law enforcement agency, swilling beer and beating his chest as if he had scored the winning goal, himself? Let’s also not forget he spent a lot of our money taking a government plane to Italy so he could attend that party.
The victories of our hockey teams — and so many other athletes in those games — remain golden. But they’re tarnished because of a couple of bros who aren’t fit to carry their gym bags.
Hillary Knight gets the last word here:
“Women aren’t less than, and our achievements shouldn’t be overshadowed by anything else other than how great they are.”