Ever since the Men's Olympic Hockey Team won gold at the Olympics and accepted praise from President Trump, the Left has been running around with their hair on fire. That only got worse when the team accepted an invitation to the White House and the State of the Union address. During the State of the Union, President Trump also announced that goalie Connor Hellebuyck would be getting the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The Left is mad the hockey team didn't "stand up" to President Trump and fulfill their weird "resistance" fantasies. But there was a time when declining an invitation to the White House was deeply offensive to the Left.
Guess who the president was then.
Here's MSNBC's Alex Wagner and Biden advisor Neera Tanden attacking Boston Bruins player Tim Thomas after he declined an invitation from Barack Obama to visit the White House after the Bruins won the Stanley Cup.
2012. MSNBC’s Alex Wagner and Neera Tanden rip Boston Bruins player Tim Thomas for not going to the White House after the team was invited by Obama for winning the Stanley Cup.
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) February 24, 2026
Tanden: “This is kind of the hyper-partisanship that just irritates everybody."
“It's like, just go… pic.twitter.com/I3z23sOzLU
"Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas RSVP'd 'thanks, but no thanks,' to a White House invitation," said Alex Wagner.
She then read a statement from Thomas, in which Thomas said, "I exercised my right as a free citizen not to visit the White House. This was not about politics or party, as in my opinion, both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country."
"I think this is just kind of the hyper-partisanship that just kind of irritates everybody," Tanden said. "Just go to the White House, you don't have to run an ad or cut a commercial or anything. Just go to the White House, take part, celebrate just like everybody else celebrates with Republican or Democratic presidents."
"Especially when you're getting honored. Obama made specific mention of him during his six-minute address," Wagner added.
Ah, so it's (D)ifferent when they do it.
If they were confronted with this video (they won’t be), they’d say with a straight face that it’s different now because Trump (in their minds) is historically evil.
— IT Guy (@ITGuy1959) February 25, 2026
It’s the go-to excuse for nonstop hypocrisy.
That's exactly what they'd do.
Leftism isn’t a coherent political ideology. It’s just a game of heads I win, tails you lose. Logical consistency is for losers.
— The Cunning Linguist (@TafkaTrap) February 25, 2026
Whatever you do is evil & must be stopped by any means necessary. Whatever they do is virtuous & beyond reproach.
It’s actually that simple.
This sums it up perfectly.
I agree with 2012 MSNBC. We should respect the office of the President regardless of whether we feel that they deserve the respect.
— James Frank (@RepJamesFrank) February 24, 2026
Hard to blame athletes when members of Congress are showing the same hyper partisanship. #txlege https://t.co/tukmwCYxXa
2026 MS NOW wouldn't agree with 2012 MSNBC.
Everything Liberal runs on Repressive Tolerance. When we do it, it is good. When you do the same, it is far-right and hate and not unity or democracy. https://t.co/2p0w9JXNU8
— Theo Jordan (@Theo_TJ_Jordan) February 25, 2026
The Left always plays Calvinball; the rules change to benefit them when they need the rules to change.
The absolute insanity from the Left over this is very telling. They can't imagine a world where people agree with or support President Trump, and they can't conceive that some people are able to transcend politics in the name of things like unity and celebrating a major Olympic victory. The men's hockey team has every right to accept congratulations and invitations from President Trump, and by their own admission, the Left said this isn't a partisan issue.
Or it wasn't, when a Democrat was in the White House.