The outrage over Team USA’s connection with Trump is dumb — and it’s what he wants

I, for one, am astonished that a group of entitled young white millionaires were eager to capitalize on their brief moment of relevance by becoming pawns of a president for whom most of them probably voted, especially if they listened to the most popular podcasters — that is, if they even bothered to vote.

Let’s unpack that sentence.

The average age of Team USA men’s hockey players is 28.43 years, so the chance they voted is less than 50%, according to surveys conducted by CIRCLE, a research initiative based at Tufts University. Among white men between the ages of 18-29, 56% voted for President Donald Trump. If they had no college degree, as is the case with most NHL players, that number jumps to 67%. More than half the listeners of podcasts such as The Joe Rogan Experience are white men between the ages of 18-34, and, after Trump was elected, Dana White, the CEO of UFC and a staunch Trump ally, thanked those podcasters for getting Trump over the hump.

» READ MORE: South Jersey reacts as Johnny Gaudreau’s jersey is displayed in Team USA’s golden victory

Let’s throw in the fact that most professional athletes are, necessarily, narcissists. And there you have the reasons why so many members of Team USA have become the latest victims of moral political outrage.

They won Olympic gold in dramatic, heartwarming fashion Sunday, but our sitting president immediately spoiled the afterglow as they celebrated in Italy. Still, most of Team USA accepted an invitation to visit the White House. They met with Trump on Tuesday afternoon and attended the State of the Union address that night.

All of this set social media and TV talk shows on fire: How dare they?

Which is exactly what Trump wanted.

Once again, his theater of the absurd drew fabulous ratings. Snowflakes on both sides melted, as scripted: The left, in anger; the right, in glee.

Perhaps one day Trump’s opponents will understand that the only one who gains from this sort of performative outrage is Trump. Save your energy for the ICE attacks in Minnesota and the acts of war on Venezuela. You’re not converting anyone by attacking Connor Hellebuyck, the goalie in the crowd who Trump promised a Presidential Medal of Freedom on Tuesday night.

Everything Trump does is transactional: They showed up for him, he gave one of them a medal.

What, you want him to turn it down? Get real. That’s not who these players are.

You expected a group of guys like this to decline the invitation to see and be seen with the most powerful man on the planet? What planet do you live on? In what world do these guys do the right thing?

» READ MORE: Johnny Gaudreau’s dream was to be an Olympian. His family lived it for him, in a moment fit for a ‘movie.’

Consider Olympic hero Jack Hughes’ considered reaction Monday, after all the heat was on:

“Everything is so political,” he told reporters. “People are so negative out there, and they are just trying to find a reason to put people down, and make something out of almost nothing.”

It’s as if he was trying to define “self-unawareness.” Like most young men in his situation, he is not equipped for the moment.

Nevertheless, as America’s current Olympic hero, Hughes, 24, is the unofficial spokesman for the group that some folks think should have told its FBI director to go home and find Nancy Guthrie. The group that some folks think should have told Trump that they weren’t coming to the White House unless the women’s team came, too, and that the women would have to sit in the front row.

Dream on.

» READ MORE: Megan Keller’s golden goal for Team USA should go down as one of the biggest moments in Olympic history

There’s no way a bunch of partying, exhausted, exhilarated frat bros are going to not laugh at a dumb joke from a guy who reminds them of their grandfathers.

Lighten up, folks.

I’m not MAGA. For that matter, you’re going to be hard-pressed to find a sports writer more anti-MAGA than I’ve proven myself to be. When Trump dips his toe into sports, I generally try to stub it.

However, on the Trump scale, Trump acted mildly here. He offhandedly insulted the women’s team — a team whose win I considered the apex of the Games, and wrote as much. He and his minions did far worse to Olympians who dared challenge him.

And if you think the hockey lads are bad, check out Nick Bosa, Herschel Walker, and Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton.

This hockey team isn’t perfect, but it isn’t evil, either. It should not be remembered for being victims of a controversy not of its own making.

It should be remembered as a brilliantly built roster, masterfully coached, which played a spectacular tournament. Its goalie gave up six goals total. The penalty kill snuffed all 18 power plays.

They were incredible.

This outrage, at best, is futile. At worst, it is performative.

Every lefty Twitter warrior knew Trump would politicize a men’s hockey win because Trump knew he and the men’s hockey team were generally of like mind. Most of Team USA appears to be Trump people, unbothered by the misogyny, racism, xenophobia, and corruption of his administrations, happy for every second in the spotlight.

Certainly, it would have been nice if all 25 players had made a different choice. Five did. Twenty didn’t. Twenty-five percent of a group of clueless twentysomethings is better than nothing.

This contrived controversy obscures how, for about an hour, this was a powerful Olympic tale.

Hughes scored a golden goal in overtime, avenging an identical defeat handed to Team USA by Canadian hero Sidney Crosby in 2010. Afterward, with an American flag draped over his shoulders, Hughes skated around with his brother and teammate, Quinn, smiling through chipped and bloodied teeth he’d suffered during the game. Team members took victory laps carrying the jersey Johnny Gaudreau would have worn had G and his brother not been killed in August of 2024. The team invited Gaudreau’s two small children onto the ice for a team photo.

What’s more, social media hyped Hughes’ advocacy of Pride Night last season, which has become a controversial topic in the more reactionary corners of the NHL.

Then, Trump intruded. And, as with most things, he ruined it. This was not just predictable. It was inevitable.

First, FBI chief Kash Patel, who’d said he was in Italy on official business, joined the alcohol-drenched postgame celebration, a moment of indecorum that sent J. Edgar Hoover spinning in his grave. The players partied on. What were they supposed to do? Kick Patel out of the locker room?

Then, Trump called the party and, offhandedly, demeaned the women’s team, which had won gold three days before. The players laughed. Some of them, clearly aware of Trump’s boorishness, laughed nervously. But they laughed.

What were they supposed to do? Chastise the president during his locker-room call?

Be realistic. This was the greatest achievement of their lives. None of them seems particularly woke. And, besides, they’d been partying.

» READ MORE: Team USA honors the late Johnny Gaudreau after winning Olympic gold in Milan

“There’s so many things happening,” Kyle Connor told The Athletic on Monday. “We just won the gold medal and things are going on so I don’t really remember what he said. It’s such a whirlwind, just celebrating.”

The boys are getting more abuse than they deserve, especially in the cesspool of social media. Folks called the players morons. They told them they could stick their gold medals up their collective butts. Some said they’d carry the stain of this moment with them the rest of their lives.

No, they won’t. Have we learned nothing from Trump and his associations with the golf world?

American golfers at the Ryder Cup not only welcome Trump at the event, but some actually performed the ridiculous Trump dance. None has suffered.

You know who were the two most popular golfers before they golfed with Trump? Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. You know who the two most popular golfers are today? Tiger and Rory. In fact, Tiger’s dating Trump’s former daughter-in-law.

The women’s team, bless them, declined their invitation to the White House.

Sure, I respect the five from Team USA who didn’t wallow in the Trump trough more than I respect the 20 who did. In that same vein, I respect the Eagles, such as Jalen Hurts, who refused to visit the White House last spring more than I respect Saquon Barkley, who not only visited the White House, but also went golfing and lunched with Trump the day before.

The fallout: In September, Saquon received the ultimate honor of having a Wawa hoagie named after him.

But there’s not going to be any real hangover effect from this. There never really is.

This team doesn’t deserve it, anyway.