President Donald Trump drew criticism on social media this week after he shared a bizarre AI video showing him playing on the U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team. Experts in political science and public humanities say the president’s post exposed a clear hypocrisy.
Trump celebrated America’s hockey victory over Canada in the Olympic gold medal final at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Sunday by sharing a video on his Truth Social platform that made him the star of the game.
The clip shows an imaginary Trump scoring goals and pushing and punching his Canadian opponents. The video ends with the US hockey team excitedly embracing the president as the team’s hero.
People on X condemned Trump’s post, calling it “more than pathetic” “misleading“And”ridiculous.The president has a history of sharing AI-generated videos and images to attack his opponents or portray himself as a stereotypical “tough guy.”
Collin Anderson a clinical assistant professor in the political science department at the University at Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences, called Trump’s latest AI video post absurd and childish.
“It was absurd, childish and inappropriate [of] any world leader, let alone the president of the United States,” he told HuffPost.
In addition, Anderson said Trump’s post claiming to honor the U.S. hockey team exposed a hypocrisy: the president’s display of patriotism was not consistent across all American athletes.
Anderson pointed to a clip of a phone call Trump made to the men’s hockey team after their victory on Sunday, which has since drawn criticism. During the call, Trump invited the men’s team to his State of the Union address and to the White House, before mentioning the U.S. women’s hockey team, which also won gold at the Olympics.
“And we’re going to have to — I got to tell you — we’re going to have to bring the women’s team,” Trump said as the men’s team burst into laughter. Trump then added: “[If I don’t] If I do that, I think I’ll probably get impeached, okay?”
The U.S. women’s hockey team has since declined Trump’s invitation, citing “timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments” as reasons for rejecting the invitation, a spokesperson said.
If Trump’s latest AI post was “really about patriotism and pride in American athletes, that would be extended to all U.S. Olympians, regardless of sport, gender or whatever,” Anderson said.
“However, there is criticism of athletes who oppose his policies[s] that Trump only cares if he thinks the athletes are on ‘his side’ and that it can win him political points,” he continued, referring to Trump’s recent criticism of U.S. Olympic athletes who have spoken out about the political climate at home.
Trump called American freeskier Hunter Hess a “real loser” after saying he had “mixed emotions” about representing Team USA. American athletes at the Games had raised questions about the Trump administration’s violent immigration policies.
Deepak Sarmaa leading public humanities scholar at Case Western Reserve University, said Trump’s celebratory post was “far from patriotism and more like extreme nationalism (ultra-nationalism) or chauvinism.”
“He transformed his supposed love for America into American exceptionalism, white supremacy and an explicit threat to Canada, a neighboring country he has already threatened with annexation,” Sarma told HuffPost. “He turned an innocent and exciting party into one of intimidation and fear.”
Trump co-opted the men’s hockey team’s victory for his own “political propaganda campaign,” Anderson says.
Trump’s decision to center himself after the hockey team’s victory has revealed a lot about his approach to leadership, experts say.
“Trump is trying to co-opt the men’s team victory for his own ongoing political propaganda campaign,” Anderson said. “With Canada being a constant target of Trump’s rhetoric, this presented an additional valuable opportunity for his administration.”
“It reflects what we have come to expect from Trump,” he continued later.
“That he put himself at the center of something he had no hand in, which reduced the performance of the men’s team.”
“We have seen this several times during his presidency, where he claims to be responsible for positive policy developments that he is completely uninvolved in,” he added.
Sarma said that when they first saw Trump’s AI hockey video post, they thought, “Trump should never have left television.”
“And furthermore, that the video was very good evidence that Trump has lost touch with reality and suffers from a combination of narcissism and delusions of grandeur,” they said.
Sarma said they believe Trump’s latest AI video post indicates he is experiencing a “blurring of reality, where he may no longer distinguish between his authentic self and the persona required for reality TV or political platforms.”
“As POTUS, however, his delusion has significant and catastrophic consequences,” they said. Sarma worries that other Republican Party elected officials who have been loyal to Trump either “think he’s some kind of superhero” — or worse, are merely enabling his behavior.
Trump made himself the center of attention with his latest AI post to “feed his fragile ego, which requires constant admiration, validation and control over their environment,” Sarma later added.
According to Anderson, the physicality of hockey was probably especially attractive to Trump.
Anderson said Trump sharing the AI hockey video was likely part of the president’s efforts to “shape his public image as a ‘tough guy’.”
“Hockey has a reputation for being a very physical and violent sport and appeals to many of the traits associated with traditional masculinity,” he said. “The fact that the victory happened to fall to Canada was also a political bonus for Trump.”
In addition to Trump’s perceived attempt to show patriotism, others on the right, including Vice President J.D. Vance, have also celebrated the men’s hockey team’s victory as quintessentially “American.”
“A heart full of pride for his country and a few missing front teeth. That’s American hockey, exactly,” Vance says wrote on X, in response to a post that appeared to show a since-deleted photo of player Jack Hughes.
Anderson noted that the National Hockey League has done so a relatively high reported percentage of registered Republicans compared to other major sports leagues. Trump’s choice to make a video about hockey was not an “accident,” given the reported political leanings of NHL players, he said.
Some right wingers on X have even gone so far as to celebrate the victory a celebration of “white culture.”
Anderson said that sentiment is likely tied to the fact that the NHL was created of predominantly white players.
“It is often touted that the sport has European roots, particularly in Scotland and the UK, which is partly true, but that passes. the Indians and the Canadian First Nations modern hockey,” he later emphasized, before adding: “Despite its indigenous influences, its white aspect is often emphasized in circles that celebrate hockey as part of white culture.”
“The combination of its ‘European’ heritage, relatively homogeneous ethnic makeup and pre-existing political leanings make the NHL the perfect target for groups looking to crown a sport as the sport of white culture,” Anderson said.
