There was a time when we were told that politics had no place in sports. Oddly, many of the same people who told us that are now shoving so much politics into sports it’s practically overflowing.
Donald Trump’s administration has been falling all over itself in recent days to politicize the U.S. men’s hockey team’s gold medal victory over Canada in the 2026 Winter Olympics. FBI director Kash Patel filmed the team’s celebration in the locker room, Trump made a crude joke with the players that landed everyone in hot water, and the team became a centerpiece of Trump’s State of the Union address.
To the surprise of few people, it appears they took things too far, including for Brady Tkachuk, the Ottawa Senators captain and a Team USA gold medalist.
On Sunday, the White House’s official TikTok account posted a video featuring doctored footage from a Tkachuk brothers’ news conference at the 4 Nations Face-Off last February. “Free Bird,” the goal song for Team USA, played in the background while AI-altered footage of Brady Tkachuk was made to say, “They booed our national anthem, so I had to come out and teach those maple syrup eating f—s a lesson.”
The AI-generated clip has 11.1 million views on TikTok and has gone viral on several other platforms. Tkachuk was asked about it on Thursday and voiced his displeasure with his footage being doctored and used in that matter.
“Well, it’s clearly fake, because it’s not my voice, not my lips moving,” Tkachuk said in his first media availability in Ottawa since the Olympics. “I’m not in control of any of those accounts. I know that those words would never come out of my mouth. So, I can’t do anything about it.”
Tkachuk was asked if he enjoyed the video, and he reiterated that he, in fact, did not.
“It’s not my voice. It’s not what I was saying,” he said. “I would never say that. That’s not who I am, so I guess I don’t like that video because that would never come out of my mouth, and never had that thought.”
Tkachuk also clarified that he did not say “Close the northern border!” during Team USA’s congratulatory call with Trump, as some on social media had speculated.
“I’ve been seeing stuff that people think it’s me. But if you watch the video, it’s not my voice or something that I never say,” Tkachuk said. “I don’t know how that took a storm on its own when I give everything I have here. It’s crazy when things go on social media, how fast they go. I would never say anything like that.”
As for Trump’s insensitive joke about how he would be compelled to also invite the gold-medal-winning women’s team if he invited the men’s team to the White House, Tkachuk said players laughed because they were “caught off guard.”
“I don’t really have an answer. It’s a whirlwind of a moment,” he said. “You can’t control what somebody says. I guess got caught off guard a little bit. You’re talking to the president 10 minutes after you achieve your dream.”
Unfortunately for Tkachuk and his teammates, they’re learning a valuable lesson that so many others before them have learned about the current administration. You’re useful to them until you’re not.