Jack Hughes’ handling of Trump’s political minefield will shape his legacy | Politi
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Jack Hughes has an opportunity for another gold-medal-worthy moment, and this time, he won’t have to beat a world-class goaltender to make it happen.
The Devils star only needs to use his massive platform as the new face of American hockey to make sure the other U.S. Olympic champions in his sport aren’t forgotten for what they accomplished in Milan.
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He needs to do what President Donald Trump couldn’t do, inexplicably, with his callous dismissal of the U.S. women’s team during a locker room phone call as the men celebrated their historic victory over Canada. Trump made a dumb joke about needing to invite the women to the White House for the State of the Union address, too, as if they deserved that honor less than the men.
“I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team, you do know that,” Trump told the men’s team before adding that if he didn’t, “I do believe I probably would be impeached.”
Several men gathered around the phone laughed, and while that sparked outrage, it feels unfair to hold that against them. This was a joyous atmosphere just moments after the signature victory of their careers. Let’s give them some grace for that initial reaction.
What happens now, though, is on them. The U.S. women — surprise! — turned down Trump’s half-hearted invitation to the State of the Union address, while Hughes and 19 of his teammates were expected to be in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday night for the speech.
“No matter what your views are, we’re super excited to go to the White House tomorrow and be a part of that,” Hughes told The Daily Mail.
That sentiment sounds nice, but in these divided times, it falls flat. From the moment the players invited FBI director Kash Patel into the locker room to awkwardly chug a beer as if he himself had scored the winning goal, the gold-medal moment went from a unifying time to something else that we can yell at each other about on social media. That’s just the reality of the world we’re living in now.
On one point, though, there should be universal agreement: The U.S. women’s team deserves as much attention and credit for their gold-medal victory over Canada as the men do. Hughes, whose mother, Ellen, is a player development consultant for the women’s team, should make sure he never misses an opportunity to talk about them in the same breath as he does his own team’s accomplishment.
This should come naturally. Hughes was asked in the chaos of his team’s overtime victory what his first thought was after he sent the puck past Canadian goaltender Jordan Binnington. He didn’t talk about how this goal would ensure his immortality in U.S. hockey, or how the next generation of American kids might be emulating him in their driveways or ice rinks.
“Honestly, first thought was, ‘We just won. How do I get my gloves and helmet off?’” Hughes said. “And surprisingly enough, one of the first people I thought of was Megan Keller, who had the gold-medal goal the other night.”
Keller isn’t some stranger. The players on the two U.S. teams became friendly in the athletes’ village, with Hughes and his brother, Quinn, in a group of men’s team players who attended the women’s gold-medal game. The two teams hung out in the cafeteria after their Closing Ceremony, packing their bags and reminiscing.
“If you could see what we see from the inside, and the men and women sharing, you know, dorm rooms and halls and flex floors and the camaraderie and the synergy and the way the women cheered on the men and the way the men cheered on the women — that’s what it’s all about," Ellen Hughes told the Today Show. “And the other things they cannot control. They care about humanity. They care about unity and they care about the country.”
Clearly, Ellen Hughes has raised her kids the right way. In 2023, Jack voiced his unequivocal support for the Devils’ decision to hold a Pride Night when other teams were canceling their celebrations. The LGBTQ community cheered when Hughes declared, “There was never a thought to not do it.”
He can own this fraught moment in a similar fashion. That doesn’t mean challenging Trump or angering either side of the political divide. It means doing the right thing and using his platform to remind this country — and, yes, the president himself — that we have the two greatest hockey teams in the world.
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