By Guardian sport
Publication Date: 2026-02-26 19:39:00
US hockey star Brady Tkachuk has said he doesn’t appreciate an AI video released by the White House in which he insults Canadians.
Tkachuk played in the Americans’ victory over Canada at the Winter Olympics on Sunday, which secured the U.S. men their first gold medal since 1980. Following that victory, the White House TikTok account posted a video of Tkachuk saying, “They booed our national anthem so I had to come out and teach those maple syrup eating motherfuckers a lesson.”
Tkachuk never said those words and the video, which has had more than 10 million views, is labeled as AI-generated.
“Well, it’s clearly a fake because it’s not my voice, it’s not my lip movement,” Tkachuk said Thursday. “I have no control over any of these accounts. I know these words would never come out of my mouth. So there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Tkachuk has good reason to distance himself from the video: He plays in the Canadian capital, where he is captain of the Ottawa Senators.
