U.S. Gold Medalist Refutes AI Video Of Him Posted By White House

U.S ice hockey gold medalist Brady Tkachuk condemned an AI video posted by the White House this week that depicted him insulting Canadians.

“They booed our national anthem, so I had to come out and teach those maple syrup-eating fucks a lesson,” Tkachuk, who is captain of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators, appears to say in the video posted on the White House TikTok account.

The video amassed over 11 million views and racked up comments that also disparaged Canada.

“It’s clearly fake, because it’s not my voice, and not my lips moving,” the real Tkachuk told a gaggle of reporters Thursday ahead of the game against the Detroit Red Wings at the Canadian Tire Centre.

“I mean, I’m not in control of any of those accounts and yeah, so I know that those words would never come out of my mouth, so I can’t do anything about it,” he continued.

Asked a follow-up question about whether he “liked” the video, Tkachuk said, “Did I like it? I mean, it’s not my voice, not what I was saying. So, um, yeah, I mean, I would never say that. That’s not who I am. So yeah, I guess I don’t like that video.”

The White House did not immediately respond to HuffPost when asked for a comment on Tkachuk not liking the video.

The U.S men’s hockey team, which won gold in the Winter Olympics, has been on thin ice with some fans after celebrating with a beer-chugging FBI Director Kash Patel in the locker room after the team’s win. The team received a call from President Donald Trump and joined him in laughing at his degrading joke towards the women’s team, which also won gold.

Tkachuk said Thursday that the men’s hockey team “supported” the women’s team. When asked why he laughed at Trump’s joke about inviting the women’s team, he said he didn’t “really have an answer” and called the aftermath of the victory a “whirlwind” moment.

“You can’t really control what somebody says and it just, I guess, caught off guard a little bit, but I know you’re talking to the president 10 minutes after you just achieved your dream,” Tkachuk said.

“It’s just the fact that you’re talking to him. It’s just you can’t really believe where your life’s at, that you’re talking to the president of the United States after you just won a gold medal.”

Some online had speculated that Tkachuk was heard shouting “close the northern border” during the team’s celebration with Patel. He, however, denied saying that.

He told reporters, “If you watch the video, that’s not my voice and something that I’d never say.”

Tkachuk was among the 20 U.S men’s players who visited the White House and dined on McDonald’s after the win. The team also attended Tuesday’s State of the Union address, where Trump announced goalie Connor Hellebuyck would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the U.S. government’s highest civilian honor.