Does an authentic video show Hilary Knight, captain of the 2026 gold medal-winning U.S. women's hockey team, saying she was "mortified" for the U.S. men's team? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that Knight ever said that, but she did call President Donald Trump's invitation to the White House a "distasteful joke." Also, the creator of the original video labeled it as AI-generated.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Facebook on February 25, 2026, and features a fake Knight saying:
I'm honestly mortified for the men's hockey team. They won one gold medal and laughed like that in the locker room. I get why they're excited. Their last Olympic gold was in 1980, basically as old as their parents. But us women, we won in 1998, 2018, and now 2026.
Gold medals don't lie, but some people really think laughing in the locker room counts as strength. Since women's hockey became an official Olympic event in 1998, we've made the finals every single time, winning eight Olympic medals, three gold, four silver, and one bronze. And them, they've been playing since 1920 and only managed to get three gold medals in more than 100 years. We did it in 28 years. What took them a century?
Honestly, I feel a little embarrassed for them. We've been on the championship stage for so long that we're used to focusing on the ice, not on whatever someone says on a phone call. We won gold and had to deal with school, training, and work the next day. Meanwhile, they were busy flying around and snapping photos, like that was harder to get than the medal itself.
We don't have time to be mad. We're too busy winning again, because the future of hockey isn't going to wait for anyone.
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Image Source: Lead Stories screenshot of Facebook.)
The full Facebook video can be watched here:
The US women have not made the finals every time, as the video claims. Their lone bronze medal means they lost once in the semifinals. In total, the U.S. men have won a dozen Olympic hockey medals since the sport started in 1920: three golds, eight silvers, and one bronze. The U.S women have medaled in all eight Olympic appearances since the sport was added in 1998 (archived here). In addition to gold in 1998, 2018, and 2026, the team won silver in 2002, 2010, 2014, and 2022; bronze in 2006 (archived here).
Original video
The original video (archived here) was posted on TikTok on Feb. 25, 2026. A screenshot of the post below shows where it is tagged: "Creator labeled as AI-generated." It's circled in yellow with a red arrow pointing to it.
(Image Source: Lead Stories screenshot of TikTok.)
"Distasteful joke"
A Google News search (archived here) found no evidence that Knight ever used the term "mortified" in connection with the U.S. men's hockey team.
Knight did, however, respond to questions on ESPN Sports Center about President Donald Trump's phone call with the men's team following their gold-medal victory on Feb. 22, 2026. During the call, Trump said he "probably would be impeached" if he didn't invite the women to the White House, too. The women's hockey team won gold at the Milan Cortina Olympics, too, just three days earlier, but didn't get a call from the White House (archived here).
"I thought it was sort of a distasteful joke and unfortunately that is overshadowing a lot of the success, the success of just women at the Olympics carrying for Team USA and having amazing gold medal feats," Knight said on Feb. 25, 2026.
