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President Trump asks Penguins if the Capitals are ‘tough,’ White House crowd boos

By Ian Oland (@ianoland) on October 10, 2017 | 0 Comment

Tuesday afternoon, the Pittsburgh Penguins officially accepted an invitation from the White House and celebrated their 2016-17 championship victory with President Donald Trump.

During the resulting ceremony, Trump called the Penguins a “truly great” team and captain Sidney Crosby “a real winner.” He also inspired boos from a pro-Penguins crowd after asking the team, in an offhanded remark, if the Capitals are a “tough” team to play against.

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“To general manager Jim Rutherford and coach Mike Sullivan, I know you have a really big, early-season matchup tomorrow night against the rival Washington Capitals,” Trump began. “Are they tough, the Washington Capitals? Are they tough, huh?”

The crowd booed. Members from the Penguins behind the podium awkwardly smiled. Trump’s comment was in reference to the Penguins playing the Capitals at Capital One Arena on Wednesday Rivarly Night, a nationally televised game.

“So I wanted to thank you for coming today,” Trump continued. “But for us, this is really a truly great group of world champions. That’s what they are: world champions.”

Trump also singled out several players and individually shook their hands.

“Man, can you play,” Trump said of Crosby. “Sidney do you know how to win or what? Look at him, he’s shy.”

Other absurd things that happened during the ceremony include:

President Trump started his speech by stating “By the way, everybody wanted to be here today.” He also called Mario Lemieux a “great golfer.”

Here is the full ceremony.

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