There's a saying about laying down with dogs. Or, you're known by the company you keep. NHL player and Team USA member Brady Tkachuk is learning that lesson.
The Tkachuk brothers, Brady—who plays professional hockey for the Ottawa Senators based in the capital city in the province of Ontario, Canada—and Matthew—who plays for the Florida Panthers based in the metro Miami area—had already drawn ire online for being proud supporters of MAGA Republican President Donald Trump during the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics even before the disastrous locker room celebration with FBI Director Kash Patel after their gold medal win.
It's unsurprising that two men of their background would lean right.
Their father is former NHL record-holding forward Keith Tkachuk, who played 18 years in the league and won an Olympic silver medal in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City out of four Winter Olympics appearances he made for Team USA. As U.S. hockey legacies, their path to the NHL was one of privilege.
But now Brady Tkachuk might be regretting that unwavering support after the Trump administration used his likeness, reportedly without his permission, in one of Trump’s favorite tools—an AI video.
Tkachuk was featured in a video posted to the White House TikTok account that was captioned:
"Silver does not shine just as bright"
In it, the Ottawa Senators captain's manipulated likeness says:
"They booed our national anthem, so I had to come out and teach those maple syrup-eating f***s a lesson."
" Canada, we own you little bro."
The expletive is censored in the audio, so people are left to speculate if the White House intended it to be interpreted as f**ks or the plural form of a three letter homophobic slur.
The latter seems more likely given the toxic bro culture the video and Trump's call to the team tapped into.
The video comes after Trump and members of his administration have repeatedly referred to Canada as the 51st state and talked of buying or taking over portions of the country.
You can see the White House video featuring Brady Tkachuk here:
Tkachuk was already drawing backlash from Canadian fans after he opted to go to a Team USA party at the E11EVEN Miami strip club in Florida on Monday before flying to Washington, D.C., to meet Trump at the White House and attend his State of the Union speech Tuesday night.
Tkachuk's Team USA teammate, Winnipeg Jets star Kyle Connor, had skipped the partying with Trump to return to his Canadian-based team to prepare for a last push before the Stanley Cup playoffs begin in April. Four others players returned to their United States-based teams after the Olympics as well.
Tkachuk spoke to reporters on Thursday after his first game back with Ottawa where the video the White House posted, featuring him prominently insulting Canada, was brought up.
As reported by TSN, Tkachuk said:
"It’s clearly fake, ‘cause it’s not my voice and not my lips moving, I’m not in control of any of those accounts, and I know that those words would never come out of my mouth, so I can’t do anything about it."
When asked if he liked the video, Tkachuk replied:
"Did I like it? I mean it’s not my voice, not what I was saying..."
"I would never say that, that’s not who I am, so I guess I don’t like that video ’cause that would just never come out of my mouth, never a thought, and I’ll leave it at that."
Tkachuk's father Keith began his NHL career in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It's also where he met his wife, Brady and Matthew's Canadian mother, Chantal Oster Tkachuk. The couple, married for 29 years, also have a daughter, Taryn.
Brady Tkachuk was also asked about a comment heard from a Team USA player during the call with Trump.
While Trump was speaking, someone yelled:
"Close the Northern border!"
The comment drew cheers and laughter.
No one has admitted to saying it, leaving people to guess who it was. Two names at the top of people's lists were goalie Connor Hellebuyck and Brady Tkachuk. Both Team USA members play on NHL teams based in Canada.
When reporters asked Tkachuk if he had said it, he responded:
"I mean, I’ve been seeing stuff that people think it’s me, but if you watch the video, that’s not my voice and something that I never say."
"I don’t really know how that kind of took a storm on its own when, you know, I play here... that’s something that never a thought would happen in my head and especially would never say it."
The TikTok video was met with plenty of MAGA minion pride and rhetoric of the "America, f**k yeah!" variety. Many thanked Tkachuk for saying the things he never actually said.
But some found it juvenile and pathetic.
@WhiteHouse/TikTok
@WhiteHouse/TikTok
And let the MAGA minions know they'd missed the AI flag on the video.
@WhiteHouse/TikTok
Many people outside of TikTok were shocked that the White House was so childish.
@kevdsmith/X
When asked about playing against Canada, a place he lives and works and where his maternal family resides, before the gold medal game, Tkachuk told ESPN:
"There’s hatred there."
"I mean, they’ve been the top dog. They’ve been the best for the last bunch of years, and for us, we want to be in that position, be the best. So it’s going to be a game where I think a lot of guys could say, this is the biggest game that they’ve ever played in."
Canada doesn't seem to be feeling a lot of love from or for Brady Tkachuk right now either.
@PatrickkkkKim/X
@cookedabsolute/X
@MichellesDude/X
@rgsmither/X
@mmgram; @tbeaumont/Bluesky
@ronwitte/Bluesky
@robg276/Threads
@hendley95/Bluesky
@aj1368/Bluesky
@ehhoffman/Threads
@andyross1962/Bluesky
@jw1958/Bluesky
@will_revanda/Threads
@anonymoustroll/Bluesky
@stinkfootjr; @mugsysrapsheet/Bluesky
@VP/X
