Brady Tkachuk outraged over AI-altered video from White House

Brady Tkachuk, captain of the Ottawa Senators and a gold medalist with Team USA at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics, is setting the record straight after a viral AI-manipulated video misrepresented his words.

The clip, published on the White House’s official TikTok account, used footage from a Tkachuk brothers’ news conference at the 4 Nations Face-Off last February. With Team USA’s goal song “Free Bird” in the background, the video made it appear that Tkachuk said:

“They booed our national anthem, so I had to come out and teach those maple syrup eating f—s a lesson.”The post has racked up over 11 million views and circulated widely on social media.

“It’s clearly fake,” Tkachuk told reporters Thursday in Ottawa, marking his first media availability since the U.S. men’s gold-medal victory. “It’s not my voice, not my lips moving. Those words would never come out of my mouth. That’s not who I am.”

The controversy comes amid the larger debate around Team USA’s post-victory celebrations. After defeating Canada in a dramatic three-on-three overtime win, players received a congratulatory call and White House invitation from President Donald Trump. Comments about the U.S. women’s team during that call, which drew laughter in the locker room, sparked criticism and widespread debate on social media.

Tkachuk explained the players were “caught off guard” by the attention, while some teammates have since apologized for their reactions. Now he wants it to be known that the AI video misrepresentation was completely out of his control.

Despite the controversy, Tkachuk has returned to Ottawa, resuming his NHL duties after partying with teammates in Miami and attending the State of the Union in Washington, making it clear he won’t let fake clips define him.

On Thursday night against the visiting Red Wings, Tkachuk collected a goal, but he and his teammates fell 2-1 in overtime to Detroit.