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Team USA Olympic hockey hero Jack Hughes spoke of his support for his country’s women’s hockey team after his team faced backlash for laughing at a joke made by President Donald Trump about the women’s team.
During an interview on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” on Friday, Hughes opened up about his respect for the women’s team after McAfee appeared to reference the controversy by joking that Hughes and his teammates “hate” the women’s players.
“We hang out with them so much, the women’s team. We supported them. Just like we were at their games, they were at our games,” Hughes said.
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Jack Hughes of the United States celebrates after a gold medal win against Canada at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics on February 22, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Elsa/Getty Images)
Hughes appeared to address recent criticism of his team for its response to Trump’s joke.
“With all these people talking, how many of them watched their gold medal game? Me and Quinn Hughes were at the game. We were at the game until like overtime ended on the glass and we were jumping up and down, so excited for these girls, so excited for them to win,” Hughes said.
“And how many of those people saw the gold medal game, saw their semifinal game? Like 10 out of 10 of our players went to their game in the round-robin. We supported them so much and we’re so proud of them. We’re so happy that they won and they brought back a gold medal, and you know, I brought it back both and the men’s medals. incredible for American hockey.”
Hughes, who scored the game-winning overtime goal against Canada to win gold, reflected on his interaction with the player on the U.S. women’s team who did the same, Megan Keller.
“Me and her had a great moment in the cafeteria after her gold medal match. We played Slovakia the next night and it was like a late game. And we were in the pasta line — me and Megan. They were just getting ready to go back out and I just gave her a huge hug and I said, ‘I’m so happy for you. I’m so proud of you,'” Hughes said.
“A few nights later I saw her again in [cafeteria]and we took a good picture and, um, she just gave me a big hug and was so happy for me too.”
Hughes told reporters after the game that the first thing he thought about when the puck went in was Keller, who scored the golden goal for the U.S. women’s team against Canada three days earlier.
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The controversy surrounding the men’s team stemmed from a phone call in the locker room between the players and Trump just after their gold medal win over Canada.
Trump told the men’s team after inviting them to Tuesday’s State of the Union address that he would “have to” invite the women’s team or “I would probably be impeached.” The team laughed in response, prompting huge backlash.
Several mainstream media outlets wrote op-eds condemning the men’s team for laughing at the joke and then visiting the White House to celebrate and Trump’s State of the Union address.
USA’s Jack Hughes (86), who scored the winning overtime goal, celebrates after defeating Canada in the men’s ice hockey gold medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy on February 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
U.S. women’s hockey captain Hilary Knight said on Wednesday’s edition of ESPN’s “SportsCenter” that Trump’s “tasteless joke” has “overshadowed”[ed]”women’s success.
“I thought it was kind of a distasteful joke, and it unfortunately overshadows a lot of the success, the success of only women in the Olympics wearing for Team USA and having amazing gold medal performances,” Knight said.
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“We’re just focusing on celebrating the women in our room, the extraordinary effort, and continuing to celebrate three gold medals in program history as well as the double gold for both men and women at the same time. And we really don’t detract from that with a bad joke.”
Hughes’ mother, Ellen, a former Team USA player and current player development officer said the players only cared about “bring[ing] so much unity for a group and a country.”
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