BURST
Brady Tkachuk, a member of the gold-medal-winning U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team this year, has denied that he insulted Canada after a TikTok video posted by the White House made it look like he very much did.
In the video, which was posted to the White House TikTok account this week, Tkachuk is at a post-game press conference and appears to say: “They booed our national anthem, so I had to come out and teach those maple-syrup-eating-f**ks a lesson.” He adds: “Canada, we own you lil’ bro.”
The video includes a disclaimer at the bottom that it “contains AI-generated media,” but does not provide further context. The rest of the clip shows clips of the American men’s hockey team during the Olympic games, backed by the song Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd.
“It’s clearly fake, because it’s not my voice and not my lips moving,” Tkachuk told CNN in response to the post. “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.”
He added: “I don’t like that video.”
The 26-year-old was born in Scottsdale, Arizona, but signed a contract with the Ottawa Senators in 2018 and is now team captain. He was one of five Canadian NHL team players on the U.S. men’s hockey Olympic team this year.
In a separate incident, Tkachuk also denied he was the individual who told Donald Trump to “close the northern border” during a call by the U.S. President to the team after its win over Canada in Sunday’s Olympic final.
“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’d never say,” Tkachuk told CBS Sports .
He added: “I don’t really know how that kind of took a storm on its own when I play here (in Canada) and give everything I have here. I just think that’s something that — never a thought would happen in my head, and especially would never say it. It’s crazy when things go on social media, how fast they go. Of course, I would never say anything like that.”
Trump has made many comments about Canada and hockey recently, including a suggestion in a social media post that if Canada signs a trade deal with China that country will “terminate ALL Ice Hockey being played in Canada, and permanently eliminate The Stanley Cup.”
He also this week posted an AI-generated video that appears to show him playing hockey in a suit and tie, throwing one Canadian player down on the ice and beating up another. Below the video is an old social media post from former prime minister Justin Trudeau that says: “You can’t take our country – and you can’t take our game.”
Tkachuk was also asked by reporters to comment on Trump’s suggestions that Canada become the 51st U.S. state. “I know I don’t want that, because I still want to play in the best-on-best tournaments,” he said.
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