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Opinion US Olympic hockey team trashed by liberal media for meeting with Trump? Crazy.  Opinions - Robby's Radar | 5 minutes ago

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US Olympic hockey team trashed by liberal media for meeting with Trump? Crazy. 

While most of America has been celebrating the awesome victory of our Olympic hockey team over Canada for the first time in 40 years, not everybody is so pleased with them. Sound crazy, right? But a New York Times columnist for their Athletic subsection, Jerry Brewer, wrote a column saying that the team “won gold — and then lost the room.”  

What? What room, the feminist studies department at some sports-hating, fun-killing liberal arts college? Because I think most people are pretty happy about the win, even if you don’t like or care about hockey. I fully admit this is the most interested I’ve been in hockey since I was a kid in Detroit in the ’ 90s, watching our Red Wings win the Stanley Cup. 

Well, The New York Times, and some other liberals, are mad that some members of our hockey team had the audacity to meet with President Trump. Shake his hand, even. Accept medals from him, and praise. How shocking! How horrifying! Don’t they know they are helping to normalize fascism!?! 

Seriously, that’s it. That’s the problem. 

Brewer writes: “These are men who thrilled a nation and rocked the world, and as adults, they need to be more savvy. Trump, perhaps more than most modern presidents, understands the optics of standing next to winners. It normalizes him. It softens his cruel instincts and crude jokes, recasting them as locker-room banter. It washes his reputation and reduces the impact of polls that indicate a significant majority of Americans disapprove of his second term.  

These champions have agency. In the afterglow of triumph, they have more agency than they ever will. They should be wary of giving it away so casually.” 

OK, but here’s the problem with that: supporters of Trump are the majority of the country. He won the election and the popular vote. Trump is normal now. Sorry about that. 

I would agree that it doesn’t help us at all for professional athletes to lean way into politics, or start talking about their views on issues. In fact, the hockey team avoided doing just that. But coming to the State of the Union, taking a photo with Trump — come on. That is normal. It’s normal no matter who the president is. Remember Barack Obama taking a photo with Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney?  

I don’t remember people being upset about that. I wasn’t. I thought it was a cool photo! 

The New York Times needs to get over itself. Chill out. There’s nothing wrong with the president being excited about the performance of our Olympians, and our athletes receiving some much deserved admiration. 

Ironically, the one athlete the liberal media did seem eager to celebrate was Eileen Gu, a traitor who chose to compete on China’s Olympic team. You’d think that if we’re so worried about normalizing totalitarianism, we’d be more upset about an athlete choosing to associate herself with one of the world’s most brutal and authoritarian regimes: Communist China. 

But liberal Vox hailed Gu as a “winner” of the narrative surrounding the Olympics. And they said the US Men’s hockey team were losers because they met with Trump. Losers.  

Ridiculous. And mainstream media wonders why so many Americans hate them? 

Robby Soave is co-host of The Hill’s commentary show “Rising” and a senior editor for Reason Magazine. This column is an edited transcription of his daily commentary. 

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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