The U.S. men's ice hockey team capped its Olympic gold medal celebration with a whirlwind tour through Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, complete with an Air Force flight into the capital, a visit with President Trump in the Oval Office, and a standing ovation at the State of the Union address. It was, by any measure, a triumphant homecoming for a group of Americans who just won gold representing their country on the world stage.
Naturally, the internet found something to be angry about.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt shared a photo on social media posing with deputy director of communications Margo Martin and several members of Team USA, including Boston Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman, Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck, Jack Hughes, Quinn Hughes, and Buffalo Sabres forward Tage Thompson. Most of the players wore red and white USA hats. Thompson chose a different one.
He wore a Make America Great Again hat. And for that, the outrage machine cranked to life.
Social media critics descended on the photo almost immediately. Thompson faced special criticism online, with critics flocking to the comments on his recent Instagram post to attack him for wearing the MAGA hat. The backlash was described as widespread, though, as with most online outrage cycles, the fury was loud but thin on substance.
Think about what actually happened here. An American athlete won an Olympic gold medal for his country, visited the White House at the invitation of the sitting president, and put on a hat bearing the president's campaign slogan while standing in the president's house. The scandal, apparently, is that he didn't seem embarrassed about any of it. Fox News reported.
This is the state of progressive cultural enforcement in 2026. You can win gold for America, but you'd better not act too American while celebrating it.
Trump invited both the men's and women's gold medal teams to the White House and extended an invitation to the State of the Union address. The men's team accepted and made the trip. The women's team did not attend, citing schedule conflicts.
During Tuesday's address, Trump said the women's gold medal team would make a trip to the White House, though he did not say when.
In a video of the president's phone call with the men's team immediately after their win, Trump joked that if he didn't invite them, he would "probably be impeached." It's the kind of lighthearted moment that used to be unremarkable when athletes visited the White House. A president congratulates champions. Champions shake hands. Everyone moves on.
But the rules changed somewhere around 2017, and they only seem to apply in one direction. When athletes visited Barack Obama's White House wearing his campaign gear, no one demanded they apologize. No one swarmed their social media accounts. The expectation now is that athletes must perform a careful neutrality in the presence of a Republican president, or face digital punishment from strangers who weren't on the ice, didn't win anything, and contribute nothing beyond their indignation.
What the online mob wants you to focus on is the hat. What they don't want you to notice is the picture underneath it: a group of young American men who just beat the world, standing in the White House, grinning. Leavitt welcomed them. The president hosted them. They received a standing ovation at the State of the Union. That's the story.
The MAGA hat outrage reveals something the left would rather not confront. These athletes weren't coerced. Thompson wasn't tricked into putting on the hat. He's a professional hockey player, not a hostage. He made a choice, and the response from progressives tells you everything about how they view personal expression when it cuts against their preferences.
Dissent is celebrated, but only the approved kind. Wearing a Pride flag to the White House is brave. Wearing the sitting president's hat to the White House is a betrayal. The standard isn't the principle. It's allegiance.
The tradition of championship teams visiting the White House exists for a simple reason. These athletes represented the United States. They won. The president, whoever he is, congratulates them on behalf of the country. It's one of the few remaining civic rituals that should transcend partisan bickering.
The men's team showed up. They took the Air Force flight. They shook hands in the Oval Office. They stood for the State of the Union and received the ovation they earned. Some wore USA hats. One wore a MAGA hat. All of them wore gold medals.
The people screaming about Tage Thompson's hat didn't win anything on Tuesday. He did.
