College basketball star Angel Reese says she and her LSU teammates will not visit the White House following comments made by first lady Jill Biden.
LSU won its first national title on Sunday with a win over Iowa. It’s traditional for national champions in the US to meet with the president, but Biden said Monday he’d be happy for Iowa to join LSU.
“I know that we will make the champions come to the White House; we always do. So, we look forward to LSU coming,” Biden said. “But, you know, I’m going to tell Joe that I think Iowa should come too, because they played so well.”
It was unclear how serious Biden and his spokesman were being. appeared to walk later the comments back.
Reese described Biden’s comments as a “joke” on social media. AND in an appearance on the I Am Athlete podcast she went further.
“I don’t accept the apology because you said what you said… You can’t take back certain things that you say… They can have that spotlight,” Reese said. “We will go to the Obamas. We’re going to see Michelle. We’ll see Barack.
Some believe that Iowa, whose team is majority white, received more favorable coverage in the media than LSU, whose team is majority black. In particular, Reese made the “You can’t see me” gesture: made famous by wrestler John Cena – to Iowa star Caitlin Clark as the Tigers closed their 102-85 victory on Sunday.
Reese, who is black, was abused for the gesture on social media. Others pointed out that Clark, who is white, had made the same gesture earlier in the tournament, but she had been praised for her fighting spirit.
Reese seemed to reference that disparity on the I Am Athlete podcast.
“I just know that if the roles were reversed, they wouldn’t be the same,” he said. “If we lost, they wouldn’t invite us to the White House.”
On Tuesday, Clark Said Iowa should not be invited to the White House.
“That’s for LSU,” Clark told ESPN. “They should enjoy every second of being the champion. I think that’s theirs to do.
“I don’t think runners-up usually go to the White House. LSU should enjoy that moment for them,” she said. “And congratulations, obviously you deserve to go there. Maybe I could go to the White House [in the future] in different terms”.
The Obamas have not responded to Reese’s comments.
Champion teams have missed visits to the White House in the past. In 2019, the NBA’s Golden State Warriors i met barack obama instead of visiting Donald Trump’s White House. They had skipped meetings with Trump on two previous occasions.