Technical foul on the first lady!
A spokeswoman for Jill Biden walked back her public invitation Tuesday for the University of Iowa women’s basketball team to visit the White House following their NCAA championship loss to LSU — after Tigers star Angel Reese called the feel-good move a “joke.”
“I know we’ll have the champions come to the White House; we always do,” Jill Biden, 71, told an audience in Denver Monday, one day after watching LSU beat Iowa 102-85 for the title in Dallas.
“So, we hope LSU will come, but, you know, I’m going to tell Joe I think Iowa should come too, because they played such a good game,” the first lady went on.
While championship-winning teams have been regular guests at the White House since at least the Reagan administration, runners-up have gotten no such consideration.
Tigers coach Kim Mulkey said her team would go see President Biden if invited, but Reese — who was named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four — was less diplomatic.
First lady Jill Biden invited both the winning and losing women’s teams to the White House. Getty Images
The LSU Tigers beat the Iowa Hawkeyes 102-85 Sunday night in Dallas. AP“A JOKE,” Reese wrote in a quote-tweet of an ESPN story about the first lady’s comment, adding three rolling-on-the-floor-laughing emojis for good measure.
Reese was already at the center of a sportsmanship controversy after she taunted Iowa star Caitlin Clark as the final buzzer sounded — waving her hand in front of her face before pointing to her ring finger.
Vanessa Valdivia, the first lady’s press secretary, was on cleanup duty Tuesday morning on Twitter, clarifying that only the LSU women’s team had been invited.
A spokeswoman for Jill Biden clarified that just LSU would be invited to the White House. AP
LSU coach Kim Mulkey said after the win that her team would head to the White House if invited. AP“The First Lady loved watching the NCAA women’s basketball championship game alongside young student athletes and admires how far women have advanced in sports since the passing of Title IX,” Valdivia tweeted.
“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,” the rep added.
Joe Biden also congratulated LSU on their victory Monday, saying they “showed us what it looks like to win with an unrelenting belief in themselves” and “did it in one of the most-watched women’s sports games in US history.”
“I’m going to tell Joe I think Iowa should come too, because they played such a good game,” Biden said of the losing team. AP
Caitlin Clark set a women’s record during the NCAA Tournament for most points scored. AP
“It was so exciting, wasn’t it? It was such a great game” Biden said of the championship. APSunday afternoon’s game drew 9.9 million viewers on the ESPN family of networks, making it the most-viewed women’s college basketball game on record — nearly doubling the 5.7 million who tuned in to watch Connecticut best Oklahoma for the 2002 championship.
In defeat, Clark broke the record for most points in a single NCAA men’s or women’s tournament, with her 191 points besting the 177 posted by Sheryl Swoopes of Texas Tech in 1993 as well as the 184 scored by Glen Rice of Michigan in 1989.
