Rusty Weiss
The U.S. men’s hockey team captured Olympic gold in dramatic fashion at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games, defeating Canada in overtime, sparking nationwide celebration and a sense of unity.
Well, maybe not for everybody.
In the immediate aftermath of the triumph, President Donald Trump placed a congratulatory phone call to the team in their locker room.
During the call—facilitated by FBI Director Kash Patel, who held the phone—Trump praised the players, singled out goalie Connor Hellebuyck, and invited the team to attend the upcoming State of the Union address later tonight.
Naturally, this led to fury from the haters, especially when the President innocently joked about needing to include the women in his invitation to avoid impeachment. The women’s team later declined the invite due to scheduling conflicts.
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Dave Portnoy Hammers People Upset About President Trump’s Call to Team USA: ‘You’re a Psychopath’
The patriotic moment quickly went viral, but it also drew sharp criticism online. Some fans and commentators expressed frustration over Trump’s involvement in what they viewed as a pure, apolitical sports achievement, with complaints that his presence—and that of figures like Patel—intruded on the celebration.
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, appearing on FS1’s Wake Up Barstool on Monday, delivered a fiery defense of the interaction and sharply rebuked the detractors. In a monologue, Portnoy called the outrage overblown and suggested it serves as a “barometer” for extreme views.
“People are mad, they’re going nuts. ‘How could the hockey team laugh, why are they talking to the president?’ This should be a barometer of whether you’re a psychopath,” Portnoy said.
“If the president calls after you win the gold medal. I don’t care, if you don’t want to talk to him, fine. But to get mad when (somebody) talks to the President of the United States, and he’s just congratulating them, chumming around. If this speech made you mad, you need to take a valium and maybe just take a thousand steps back,” he added.
“Because there’s nothing to be mad about when a president congratulates a gold medal-winning team.”
“I've been doing Barstool now for 20 years, there is no softer group of people than Hockey Twitter.” – @stoolpresidente pic.twitter.com/t5cz7l6K4Z
— Wake Up Barstool (@wakeupbarstool) February 23, 2026
Portnoy also dismissed complaints about Patel’s presence in the locker room, noting that politicians and officials frequently attend Olympic events worldwide and that he would jump at the chance if invited.
The men’s and women’s hockey golds remain a highlight of the Games for Team USA—and if you have a problem with the President celebrating that, then you are, as Portnoy explains, a psychopath.