Rodger Sherman
‪@rodger.bsky.social‬

If these guys had even the tiniest shred of capability for self-reflection they’d realize they were used as props by people who are literally putting words in their mouths but alas

‪Chris Vannini‬
‪@chrisvannini.com‬
· 15h
The White House posting a fake AI video of a gold medal athlete would be an insane scandal in the old times.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7070904/2026/02/26/tkachuk-sanderson-senators-trump-usa-olympics/

4:52 PM · Feb 26, 2026

Chris Vannini
‪@chrisvannini.com

The White House posting a fake AI video of a gold medal athlete would be an insane scandal in the old times.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7070904/2026/02/26/tkachuk-sanderson-senators-trump-usa-olympics/

4:42 PM · Feb 26, 2026

Brady Tkachuk talks ‘clearly fake’ TikTok shared by White House, Trump call and gold medal


Brady Tkachuk, right, and his brother, Matthew, helped the U.S. win its first Olympic gold medal in men's hockey since 1980. Elsa / Getty Images

By Julian McKenzie
Feb. 26, 2026 Updated 6:19 pm EST

OTTAWA — Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk said he understands why the U.S. women’s hockey team would feel put down by President Donald Trump’s comments on a call with players Sunday following the U.S. men’s hockey team’s gold medal win over Canada. ... On the call, Trump joked he would have to invite the gold-medal-winning women’s team to the White House in addition to the men to avoid being impeached. The women’s team declined an invitation, citing scheduling issues. On Wednesday, U.S. captain Hilary Knight called the remarks “distasteful and unfortunate.” ... Asked why he would laugh at Trump’s comments, Tkachuk said he didn’t have an answer.

{snip}

Tkachuk was also asked about an AI-generated video shared earlier this week by the White House’s official TikTok account in which he and his brother, Matthew, are answering a question during last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off tournament. In the video, Brady’s answer is overdubbed to make him appear to refer to Canadians as “maple syrup-eating f—s” before showing highlights of the Americans during the Olympic tournament to the tune of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird.” It has been viewed over 11 million times. ...“Well, it’s clearly fake,” Tkachuk said. “Because it’s not my voice, not my lips moving. … I’m not in control of any of those accounts, and I know that those words would never come out of my mouth. So, I can’t do anything about it.

“It’s not my voice. It’s not what I was saying. I would never say that. That’s not who I am. … I don’t like that video because that’s just never come out of my mouth.” ... Tkachuk also said he didn’t yell “close the Northern border” during the team’s phone call with Trump. ...“I’ve been seeing stuff that people think it’s me,” Tkachuk said. “But if you watch the video, that’s not my voice. It’s something that I’d never say. I don’t really know how that kind of took a storm on its own when I play here (in Ottawa) and give everything I have here. I just think that’s something that I never thought would happen in my head and especially would never say. It’s crazy when things go on social media, how fast they go. And, of course, I would never say anything like that.”

[Ottawa teammate Jake Sanderson] was also asked about Trump’s phone call and said the team’s reaction to his comments was a “mistake.” ...“But I think things got blown out of proportion a little bit,” Sanderson said. “We have nothing but the utmost respect for the women. We had a lounge in the village that we were hanging out with them all the time, watching other events, and going to their games … ... “If we were to do it again, I think we wouldn’t do that, and we made a mistake. But, again, I think it kind of got blown out of proportion a little bit.”

{snip}

By Julian McKenzie
Staff Writer, Senators