The athletics department at Louisiana State University says they would “certainly accept an invitation” to celebrate their national championship with the Biden’s at the White House.
Whether the team actually goes remains to be seen.
Controversy ensued soon after LSU’s 102-85 victory over Iowa this weekend when First Lady Jill Biden said she would invite not only the national champion Lady Tigers but also the team they beat, the Iowa Hawkeyes.
“Last night, I attended the NCAA women’s basketball championship,” said Biden on Monday while speaking at the Colorado State Capitol in Denver.
“So I know we’ll have the champions come to the White House, we always do. So, we hope LSU will come but, you know, I’m going to tell Joe [Biden] I think Iowa should come, too, because they played such a good game.”
That offer did not sit well with LSU star player Angel Reese who promptly took to Twitter to blast Biden’s idea.
A JOKE. https://t.co/9SiOKQNqbj
— Angel Reese (@Reese10Angel) April 3, 2023
By Tuesday, FLOTUS’ spokesperson Vanessa Valdivia was doing damage control by suggesting the First Lady’s invitation to Iowa was intended to “applaud women athletes.”
“Her comments in Colorado were intended to applaud the historic game and all women athletes,” Valdivia wrote on Twitter. “She looks forward to celebrating the LSU Tigers on their championship win at the White House.”
Her comments in Colorado were intended to applaud the historic game and all women athletes. She looks forward to celebrating the LSU Tigers on their championship win at the White House.
— Vanessa Valdivia (@vvaldivia46) April 4, 2023
This was not well-received by Reese, however, who refused to accept the “apology” and suggested the team would rather go see “the Obamas.”
“I don’t accept the apology because you said what you said … You can’t go back on certain things that you say … They can have that spotlight. We’ll go to the Obamas.’ We’ll go see Michelle. We’ll see Barack,” Reese told host Brandon Marshall on the I AM ATHLETE podcast.
“I just know if the roles were reversed, they wouldn’t be the same. If we were to lose, we would not be getting invited to the White House.”
There’s some truth to this. After all, the Biden’s didn’t invite San Diego State, the men’s NCAA runner-ups.
An Instagram post attributed to Reese reads, “WE NOT COMING. period.” Though, Reese has not said anything so definitive in public.
LSU coach Kim Mulkey said she would go to the White House if invited. However, she said that on Sunday, before Biden enraged her team by inviting the runner-ups.
Speaking of the runner-ups, Iowa star player Caitlin Clark pushed back on the idea that her team should be invited to the White House.
“I don’t think runner-ups usually go to the White House. I think LSU should enjoy that moment for them and congratulations, obviously, they deserve to go there. Maybe I could go to the White House on different terms though,” Clark said. “That’s for LSU. That’s a pretty cool moment and they should enjoy every single second of being a champion.”