Danica Patrick’s Olympic Commentary
Danica Patrick is making the most of this Olympic moment.
The former NASCAR driver, now 43, took to her Instagram Stories on Sunday to take a shot at Canada’s men’s hockey team following their disappointing 2-1 overtime defeat against the United States in Milan-Cortina.
“If Canada had been smart and became the 51st province, we would have been gold medalists by now,” Patrick wrote, sharing a picture of Team Canada with their silver medals. “Is it too early?”
This jab isn’t too far off from comments made by former President Donald Trump, whom Patrick supported in the 2024 election.
Last year, while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was stepping down, Trump suggested that Canada might as well become the 51st state.
“Many people in Canada love being our 51st province. The U.S. can no longer suffer from huge trade deficits and subsidies that Canada needs. Justin Trudeau knows this, and he resigned,” Trump stated on Truth Social in January 2025.
He continued, “If Canada merges with the U.S., then there would be no customs duties, taxes would be significantly lower, and we’d be completely safe from the threats of Russian and Chinese ships. What a great country we would become if we worked together!”
Prime Minister Mark Carney mentioned in a call with Trudeau’s replacement last April that Trump had proposed the idea of Canada as a state.
The U.S. team celebrated their gold medal victory, the first in men’s hockey since 1980, after this pivotal win.
The team kicked off their celebrations at the Miami nightclub E11EVEN, where ESPN’s Pat McAfee covered a hefty $150,000 tab before heading to Washington, D.C.
On Tuesday, they visited President Trump at the White House, and later that evening attended his State of the Union address.
However, the group faced scrutiny over a congratulatory phone call with Trump, where he made a lighthearted remark about needing to invite the U.S. women’s hockey team, which also won gold, saying, “Otherwise, I think I’d probably be impeached.”
Brothers Quinn and Jack Hughes, who scored the decisive goal against Canada, discussed the camaraderie between the men’s and women’s teams in a Tuesday interview on “Good Morning America.”
“There were a lot of headlines about us and the women’s hockey team and the video, but we played together. We were in the cafeteria with them until 3 a.m.,” Jack, a Devils player, shared.
The women’s team turned down Trump’s invitation due to scheduling conflicts, leading Flavor Flav to extend an invitation for a “real celebration” to both gold medal-winning teams.
