American ice hockey star Brady Tkachuk has said he does not appreciate an AI video released by the White House that shows him insulting Canadians.
Tkachuk played a role in the Americans’ victory over Canada at the Winter Olympics on Sunday, giving the American men their first gold medal since 1980. In the wake of that victory, the White House TikTok account published a video of Tkachuk saying: “They criticized our national anthem, so I had to come out and teach those maple syrup eaters a lesson.”
Tkachuk never said these words and the video, which has been viewed more than 10 million times, has been labeled as AI-generated.
“Well, it’s obviously fake, because it’s not my voice, my lips are not moving,” Tkachuk said Thursday. “I don’t control any of those accounts. I know those words would never come out of my mouth. So, there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Tkachuk has good reason to distance himself from the video: He plays in the Canadian capital, where he is captain of the Ottawa Senators.
He added, “That’s not my voice. That’s not what I was saying.” “I would never say that. That’s not who I am, so I guess the reason I don’t like that video is because that would never come out of my mouth and I never thought that.”
Donald Trump called on the US team after their victory and some believe Tkachuk could be heard shouting “Close the northern border” as the president congratulated the team. He denied those claims on Thursday.
Tkachuk said, “I’m seeing things that make people think it’s me. But if you watch the video, it’s not my voice or anything I ever say.” “I don’t know how I get to storm off when I give it my all here. It’s funny how fast things move when they get on social media. I would never say anything like that.”
The fallout from Trump’s call, which was captured on video, doesn’t end there. The president was accused of making a joke at the expense of the US women’s team during the call, when he invited the male players to the White House to celebrate their gold medal.
“I have to tell you, we have to get a team of women, you know this,” Trump said before laughing and saying he would be “impeached” if he didn’t do it. Some players laughed at this joke. American women also won the gold medal in this year’s Olympics.
On Wednesday, US women’s captain Hillary Knight called the joke “distasteful”. On Thursday, Tkachuk said he understood why Knight and his teammates would be insulted by Trump’s comments and the reactions of some players.
“I mean, I get it,” he said. “We support them, they support us. You can’t control what other people say. It was fun to be around them, see how they play and the excellence around them. If I see one of them, I’ll talk about the excitement we can control, which is to be a gold medalist.”
Tkachuk said his teammates may have laughed at Trump’s comments because they were nervous. “Ten minutes after you fulfill your dream, you’re talking to the president,” he said.
Tkachuk was among 20 American male players who met Trump at the White House after the victory. The women’s team declined the invitation.
“It was special,” Tkachuk said of the trip. “Being an American citizen, you never really think you’re going to see the White House and be in the Oval Office.”
