02/26/26 02:44:00
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02/26 14:43 CST US hockey player Brady Tkachuk slams White House TikTok as
'clearly fake' after anti-Canada slur
US hockey player Brady Tkachuk slams White House TikTok as 'clearly fake' after
anti-Canada slur
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) --- American hockey player Brady Tkachuk said Thursday
that he did not appreciate a doctored TikTok video shared by the White House
that made it look like he was disparaging Canadians after winning Olympic gold,
calling it fake and something he would never say.
The video includes fabricated audio of Tkachuk referring to Canadians as "maple
syrup eating (expletive)," with the expletive bleeped out. The video carries a
note saying it "contains AI-generated media."
"It's clearly fake because it's not my voice and not my lips moving," Tkachuk
said. "I'm not in control of any of those accounts. ... I know that those words
would never come out of my mouth."
Asked if he liked the video, Tkachuk said he did not: "I would never say that.
That's not who I am."
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tkachuk also denied being the voice heard shouting "close the northern border"
during Team USA's celebratory phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump after
Sunday's 2-1 overtime win over Canada to win the gold medal at the Winter
Olympics.
"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," Tkachuk said. "I don't
really know how that kind of took a storm on its own when I play here and give
everything I have here."
Tkachuk, a 26-year-old Arizona native, is the captain of the NHL's Ottawa
Senators and has played his entire career in the Canadian capital. He and other
members of the U.S. team returned from Italy this week and are resuming the NHL
season. Some attended Trump's State of the Union speech in Washington on
Tuesday night and were cheered by those in attendance.
The U.S. women also beat Canada 2-1 in overtime, the first time the Americans
swept both Olympic hockey tournaments. The celebration of the twin victories
has been shadowed by U.S. politics almost since the final horn of the men's
game.
Talking on a speakerphone in the postgame locker room, Trump extended an
invitation to the White House to the men's team, then added, "We're going to
have to bring the women's team, you do know that." The president also joked
that if he didn't extend the invitation, he would probably be impeached. Some
of the men's players chuckled, something at least one said they regretted
later. Tkachuk said he understood how the moment on the phone call could have
been viewed by the women's players.
"I mean, I get it," he said. "We supported them, they supported us. You can't
control what other people say."
A number of the men's players traveled to Washington on Tuesday and visited
Trump in the White House before being guests at the State of the Union. Many of
the women's players, meanwhile, were on the way back to their professional or
college clubs. They didn't learn they had also had been invited until late
Sunday, making it difficult to change travel plans already disrupted by bad
weather on the East Coast.
In his address, Trump said plans were in the works to have the women's team
visit the White House, though it was unclear when that could happen. The
earliest the team could travel to Washington would be in late spring after the
conclusion of the PWHL season.
In the meantime, rapper Flavor Flav scheduled a July celebration for the
women's team in Las Vegas for those who can make it.
Hilary Knight earlier this week said she doesn't want to let what she called a
"distasteful" joke by Trump get in the way of a historic performance by
American women at the Winter Games. Players for both U.S. teams have been
uniform in saying how much they bonded in the athletes' village in Milan and
supported each other on their runs to gold.
"Our two teams were so close. We watched other events together. We went and
supported them. We loved the women's team. The women's team loved us and we're
so proud that we had a clean sweep of gold medals and just so much respect for
them and the other athletes," said Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk,
Brady's brother.
Brady Tkachuk was asked about being a proud American while being the Senators
captain at a moment of heightened tension between the countries.
"First and foremost, I've given absolutely everything I have as an Ottawa
Senator --- blood, sweat and tears," Tkachuk said. "When you represent the
U.S., being an American, it's an honor. There are only three teams that have
won the gold medal for the U.S., so to be part of that is special."
___
AP writers Melissa Goldin, Tim Reynolds and John Wawrow as well as the Canadian
Press contributed.
___
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
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