OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — American hockey player Brady Tkachuk said Thursday that he did not appreciate a doctored TikTok video shared by the White House that made it look like he was disparaging Canadians after winning Olympic gold, calling it fake and something he would never say.
The video includes fabricated audio of Tkachuk referring to Canadians as “maple syrup eating f—s,” with the expletive bleeped out. Tkachuk called it “clearly fake,” said the voice and lip movement did not match, and added he would never use that language. The video carries a note that it “contains AI-generated media.”
Tkachuk also denied being the voice heard shouting “close the northern border” during Team USA’s celebratory phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump after Sunday’s 2-1 win over Canada to win the gold medal at the Winter Olympics.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tkachuk, a 26-year-old Arizona native, is the captain of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. He and other members of the U.S. team returned from Italy this week and are resuming the NHL season. Some of them attended Trump’s State of the Union speech in Washington on Tuesday night and were cheered by those in attendance.
The U.S. women also beat Canada 2-1 in overtime three days earlier, the first time the Americans swept both Olympic hockey tournaments.
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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
The Associated Press
