Tate McRae faces backlash for reacting to US ice hockey star’s post after brother defended Trump’s ‘sexist’ joke

Tate McRae found herself in hot water with Canadians and social media users after she seemed to back a post by the men’s US hockey team, who laughed at Donald Trump’s joke about the women’s Olympic team.

The 2026 Winter Olympics, jointly hosted by Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo in Italy, have seen the 22-year-old Calgary-born singer make a few choice decisions in recent days that have riled fans.

First, she appeared in an ad promoting NBC and Peacock's US coverage of the Olympics, despite being Canadian.

In the clip, which showed her donning a skiing outfit, she said: “I’m trying to get to Milan for an amazing opening ceremony and meet Team USA. Then it’s the weekend with America’s best skating for gold, and Lindsey Vonn’s epic comeback.”

In response to the backlash, McRae posted an old picture of herself, which showed her as a child holding a little Canadian flag with the words, ‘ya’ll know I’m Canada down’ over the picture.

However, people have been quick to criticise 'She's All I Wanna Be' singer after appearing to like an Instagram post from Quinn Hughes, who is part of Team USA’s men's hockey team.

Tate McRae is facing backlash (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

On 22 February, the US won the men's Olympic ice hockey gold medal for the first time in 46 years, beating Canada 2-1, but just three days prior, on 19 February, the women’s team won 2-1 against Canada.

But it was after the men won that a video was leaked, appearing to show FBI Director Kash Patel chugging a bottle of beer and holding up a phone as Trump offered to fly them out for 24 February’s speech.

"We’re giving the State of the Union speech on Tuesday night. I could send a military plane or something, if you would like to. It’s the coolest night. It’s the biggest speech," he said in the clip.

However, he then went on to say he’d ‘have’ to bring the women’s team too, otherwise he’d be ‘impeached’ - leading to several team members chuckling at the remark.

People have since called McRae out for liking Hughes’ post, which was an image of him and his team, which also includes his brother, Jack, with the caption: “Golden.”

Jack is also rumoured to be dating Tate, with the Daily Mail reporting that the two had been spotted on a dinner date in November 2025, before being seen in December on a walk through New York City. The two have not officially confirmed anything as of yet.

McRae appeared to like Quinn Hughes' post on Instagram (Instagram/@_quinnhughes)

After an X user screenshotted the post, which was also shared by outlets such as Sports Illustrated, people went off in the comments.

“not her being maple maga ouuuuu,” one person wrote, while another joked: “OH TATE MCMAGA.”

Someone else said: “i thought we been knew tate mcrae was problematic.”

Meanwhile, some didn’t see a problem, with one writing: “What’s the issue here?”

However, it appears that McRae unliked the post as her name no longer can be seen on the image, leading to one user quipping: “She had to unlike the post because of all the crazies who think they can bully people they don’t even know.

"She can like the USA where she lives and Canada.”

US men's hockey team's response to Trump backlash

Quinn and Jack Hughes, and the Team USA men's hockey team, have previously been called out for their reactions to Donald Trump's joke (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Jack had previously told the Daily Mail that ‘everything is so political’ in regard to the backlash, stating: “They’ve got busy schedules, too.

“People are so negative out there and they are just trying to find a reason to put people down and make something out of almost nothing."

“We’re athletes,” he said. “We’re so proud to represent the U.S., and when you get the chance to go to the White House and meet the president, we’re proud to be Americans and that’s so patriotic.”

He added: “No matter what your views are, we’re super excited to go to the White House tomorrow and be a part of that.”

Meanwhile, his fellow teammate, Charlie McAvoy, apologised to the women's team for the reaction, saying 'it's certainly not reflective of how we feel'.

Jeremy Swayman also said he had 'so much respect for the women's team', and that they 'should have reacted differently'.

When asked for his thoughts on Swayman's comments, Hughes said, 'is what it is,' and that they have 'so much respect for the women’s team,' but they also respect the men's team.

Tyla reached out to Tate McRae’s talent agency, Creative Artists Agency, for comment.