LSU hoops star Angel Reese said she and her NCAA championship team will not visit the White House after first lady Jill Biden proposed also extending an invitation to the defeated Iowa Hawkeyes to celebrate both teams.
Ms. Reese dismissed Mrs. Biden’s attempts to walk back the gesture and said she and her team will “go to the Obamas’” instead.
“I don’t accept the apology because you said what you said,” Ms. Reese said of Mrs. Biden during an interview with the hosts of the “I AM ATHLETE” podcast. “You can’t go back on certain things that you say.”
“They can have that spotlight,” she said of Iowa. “We’ll go to the Obamas’. We’ll go see Michelle. We’ll see Barack.”
The comments deepen a spat that was sparked after LSU defeated Iowa 102-85 in Sunday’s championship game.
During an appearance in Colorado on Monday, Mrs. Biden praised both teams for their successful seasons before suggesting a detour from long standing tradition.
“I know we’ll have the champions come to the White House, we always do. So, we hope LSU will come,” she said. “But, you know, I’m going to tell Joe I think Iowa should come, too, because they played such a good game.”
Ms. Reese called the idea “A JOKE” on Twitter on Monday, igniting a firestorm online.
Iowa’s Caitlin Clark said Tuesday that her team shouldn’t receive an invitation.
“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,” Ms. Clark said. “That’s for LSU. That’s a pretty cool moment and they should enjoy every single second of being a champion.”
The first lady’s spokeswoman Vanessa Valdivia chimed in on Tuesday, saying the first lady meant no disrespect to the Tigers by extending an invitation to Iowa and appeared to walk back the invitation for Iowa.
“Her comments in Colorado were intended to applaud the historic game and all women athletes,” Ms. Valdivia wrote on Twitter. “She looks forward to celebrating the LSU Tigers on their championship win at the White House.”
But the move did little to cool tensions with Ms. Reese, who said on Wednesday that LSU would not have received an invitation if they’d lost.
“I just know if the roles were reversed, they wouldn’t be the same,” she said. “If we were to lose, we would not be getting invited to the White House.”
• Joseph Clark can be reached at jclark@washingtontimes.com.
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