Louisiana State University’s Angel Reese had two words for Jill Biden after the first lady suggested both the winners and the runners-up of the NCAA women’s basketball championship visit the White House.
“A JOKE,” Reese tweeted.
Biden attended the game Sunday at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, where Reese and her team defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes, 102-85.
Biden congratulated both teams Monday during remarks to Colorado state lawmakers in Denver.
Biden said the matchup was a “great game” and a product of the fight for Title IX, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex at colleges, ushering generations of female athletes since 1972.
She then spoke of inviting the two teams to the White House.
“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 I think Iowa should come too, because they played such a good game,”Jill Biden said.
It is traditional for the national champions to be invited to the White House, but not for the runners-up. Reese tweeted a link to the story which included Biden’s comments, calling it “A JOKE” along with three rolling-on-floor-laughing emojis.
Press secretary to the first lady Vanessa Valdivia sought to clarify Biden’s comments on Tuesday, saying in a tweet that they “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 20-year-old Reese played a key role in the Tigers’ 102-85 victory over the Hawkeyes to win the first national title in program history on Sunday.
She was named the women’s NCAA tournament’s Most Outstanding Player as a result of her standout performances.
Before Valdivia’s clarification, ESPN host Stephen A. Smith had echoed Reese’s sentiment, replying to her tweet saying: “I mean absolutely zero disrespect to the First Lady, but you are 1000% correct.
