Members of the U.S. Olympic women’s and men’s hockey teams appeared on “Saturday Night Live” with actor Conor Story to call for a truce after President Trump made “disgusting and disappointing” comments that belittled the women’s hockey team.
Women’s team captain Hilary Knight joined teammate Megan Keller and U.S. men’s hockey players Jack Hughes and Quinn Hughes for the Rivals star’s opening monologue.
“It was supposed to be just us, but I thought I’d invite the players too,” Knight, 36, joked on stage wearing his gold medal and jersey.
“Yeah, I thought I’d give them a little bit of time to shine,” Keller, 29, added.
“That’s very important,” interjected Story, 26. “You know, my show (‘Rivalry’) speaks to people who aren’t necessarily represented in the hockey world, so it’s really great to have some actual hockey legends here tonight. Both teams just won gold medals.”
Jack, 24, said the last time the men’s team won a gold medal was in Lake Placid in 1980, and Knight cheekily added that the women’s team won a gold medal in 2018.
Knight’s comments were in reference to the controversy that erupted when President Trump, 79, called the U.S. men’s team to celebrate their win over Canada in Milan-Cortina on Feb. 22.
During the call, the politician also invited the women’s team to attend the State of the Union address and said they would be impeached if they didn’t also invite the women’s team.
Some men laughed at Trump’s comments, which many believed to be sexist.
Knight later slammed President Trump’s comments during an appearance on “SportsCenter” Wednesday, calling them “disgusting and disappointing.”
“I thought that was kind of a nasty joke, but unfortunately that overshadows a lot of the successes, the successes of being the only woman on the U.S. team at the Olympics and achieving a great gold medal,” she said.
“We are focused on celebrating the extraordinary efforts of the women in our audience and will continue to celebrate the program’s all-time record for three gold medals and two gold medals for men and women at the same time. And we will not undermine that with offensive jokes.”
At the time, Jack and Quinn addressed the controversy in an interview on “Good Morning America” and expressed their support for the women’s team.
“I’m so happy for them,” said Quinn, 26.
Additionally, U.S. goaltender Jeremy Swayman said he believes the team “should have responded differently” to President Trump’s comments.
“I know we’re very excited about the women’s team,” he said. “We have a lot of respect for the women’s team, and sharing the gold medal with them is something we will be forever grateful for.”
