Hughes talks Trump backlash over women's team

U.S. Olympic hockey players Jack and Quinn Hughes have addressed the backlash over the team's reaction to President Donald Trump's comments about the women's Olympic hockey team.

The American men's hockey team won gold for the first time since 1980 on Jack Hughes' overtime goal against Canada on Sunday. During the team's locker room celebration in Milan, which featured FBI director Kash Patel as a guest, Trump extended an invitation to the players to attend Tuesday's State of the Union address.

As Patel held the phone, Trump said, "I must tell you, we're going to have to bring the women's team, you do know that," adding jokingly that if he didn't also invite the women's team, "I do believe I probably would be impeached."

The U.S. players laughed at the comments, a reaction that drew harsh criticism when the video went viral.

"Everyone is giving us backlash for all the social media stuff today. People are so negative out there, and they are just trying to find a reason to put people down and make something out of almost nothing," Jack Hughes said in an interview outside of E11even Miami, where the team celebrated its victory Monday.

Hughes said the two teams grew closer during their respective journeys to the gold medal at the Winter Olympics.

"Our relationship with them, over the course of being in the Olympic Village, I think we are so tight with their group. After we won the gold medal, we were in the cafeteria at 3:30 a.m. in the morning with them. We go from there, pack our bags and we're on the bus," Hughes said. "People are so negative about things. I think everyone in that locker room knows how much we support them, how proud we are of them. The same way we feel about them, they feel about us."

Jack Hughes, a center for the New Jersey Devils, repeated some of those comments on Tuesday's "Good Morning America," where brother Quinn Hughes confirmed that the men's gold medalists will attend the State of the Union address that night in Washington.

"I don't know how much I'm allowed to say, but yes. We're excited to go. It's not something you get to do every Tuesday. It's going to be special for us," said Quinn Hughes, a defenseman for the Minnesota Wild.

He also addressed the backlash over the team's reaction to Trump's comments.

"I'm glad you mentioned the women's team again; we're extremely happy for them. There's a lot going on with social media right now surrounding our team and their team. But in the last couple of summers, we did a lot of training with them and got to know a lot of those girls really well," Quinn Hughes said.

The U.S. women's hockey team, which won gold for the third time since the Olympics added the women's competition in the sport in 1998, declined an invitation from Trump to attend the State of the Union, citing logistics and scheduling concerns.

"We are sincerely grateful for the invitation extended to our gold medal-winning U.S. Women's Hockey Team and deeply appreciate the recognition of their extraordinary achievement," the U.S. women's team said in a statement released Monday. "Due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games, the athletes are unable to participate. They were honored to be included and are grateful for the acknowledgment."

Jack Hughes said the men's team is eager for the opportunity to visit the White House after its victory at the Olympics.

"Yeah, we're excited. Everything is so political. We're athletes. We're so proud to represent the U.S. When you get the chance to go to White House and meet the president, we're proud to be Americans, and that's so patriotic," he said in Miami on Monday. "No matter what your views are, we're super excited to go to the White House tomorrow and be a part of that."

The U.S. men's team partied at E11even Miami, the site of the Florida Panthers' Stanley Cup celebration last June, deep into the night. They sang songs such as "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue," and some of the players crowd-surfed. The club told ESPN that it went through more than $150,000 in champagne during the celebration.