Both ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel and Comedy Central’s The Daily Show returned on Monday after a week off to offer up some Olympic-sized hockey hot takes. Kimmel would try to turn the gold-medal-winning women’s team into a symbol of the anti-Trump resistance, while Daily Show host Jon Stewart and this week’s Tuesday-Thursday host Desi Lydic used the opportunity to explain why Canada, which both the men’s and women’s teams beat in overtime to win gold, is better than the U.S.
For his part, Kimmel introduced a clip of the men’s team talking on the phone with Trump after the game, “So, Trump dials into the locker room after the game, Kash has got his phone to glom on to the glory and invite the men’s team and, begrudgingly, gold medal-winning women’s team, who also won in overtime, to his State of the Union tomorrow.”
Jimmy Kimmel and his audience applaud the women's hockey team not being able to make it to the State of the Union, "What a funny creep, huh? The women's hockey team, by the way, immediately refused his invitation. Truly. I mean, can you blame them? The last time Trump invited a… pic.twitter.com/0LnPLcIn4Y
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) February 24, 2026
Over speakerphone, Trump declared, “We'll do the White House the next day, we’ll just have some fun, we have medals for you guys and we have to, I must tell you, we're going to have to bring the women's team, you do know that. If I don’t do that, I believe I probably would be impeached, okay?”
As Trump was talking, the team was clearly excited about the idea of sharing the spotlight with the women’s team and understood the joke, but Kimmel, who purports to be a professional funny person, was not amused, “What a funny creep, huh?”
He then applauded the women’s team while trying to decipher hidden meanings in Hockey USA’s official statement:
The women's hockey team, by the way, immediately refused the invitation. Truly. I mean, can you blame them? The last time Trump invited a woman with a medal to the White House, he made her give it to him. A spokesperson for USA Hockey wrote, ‘We are sincerely grateful for the invitation extended to our gold medal-winning U.S. Women's hockey team and deeply appreciate the recognition of their extraordinary achievement. Due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the games, the athletes are unable to participate. They were honored to be included and are grateful for the acknowledgment.’ Which is a nice way of saying, ‘Puck off, Trump!’ We've got better things to do.
Meanwhile, The Daily Show sought to satirize what it considered to be overzealous chest-beating by certain conservative media personalities trying to make political points about liberals and Canada. At the same time, Lydic would not-so subtly suggest that if you wanted to actually compare the U.S. with Canada, then the latter would be better.
Stewart played the role of the straight man when he declared, “I just don't know if our political systems are really all that different from Canada's.”
The Daily Show sought to mock what it considered overzealous conservative political reactions while implying Canada's actually better. Desi Lydic claimed "Our democracy separates executive power from the legislature with a president appointed by an electoral college, while their… pic.twitter.com/RPnZt2H1bh
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) February 24, 2026
Lydic sarcastically lamented the existence of the Electoral College, “What? Are you kidding me? Our democracy separates executive power from the legislature with a president appointed by an electoral college, while their democracy appoints an executive based on the outcome of which governing party has the majority. And as we learned on the ice yesterday, that system sucks!”
Fact-check: In both 2019 and 2021, Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party won despite losing what American liberals would refer to as “the popular vote.”
After some additional caricaturizing from Lydic, Stewart claimed, “But the game didn't change the fact that Canadians still have a better health care system than we do.”
Lydic returned to the sarcasm, “Yes. Okay, I thought so, too, until I saw the scoreboard! For-profit health care: 1. Universal Canadian health care: 0. USA! USA!”
Ah yes, the Canadian health care system. The system that gives its people shortages, absurdly long wait times, and euthanasia.
Here are transcripts for the February 23 shows:
ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2/23/2026
11:44 PM ET
JIMMY KIMMEL: So, Trump dials into the locker room after the game, Kash has got his phone to glom on to the glory and invite the men’s team and, begrudgingly, gold medal-winning women’s team, who also won in overtime, to his State of the Union tomorrow.
DONALD TRUMP: We'll do the White House the next day, we’ll just have some fun, we have medals for you guys and we have to, I must tell you, we're going to have to bring the women's team, you do know that. If I don’t do that, I believe I probably would be impeached, okay?
KIMMEL: What a funny creep, huh? The women's hockey team, by the way, immediately refused the invitation. Truly. I mean, can you blame them? The last time Trump invited a woman with a medal to the White House, he made her give it to him. A spokesperson for USA Hockey wrote, "We are sincerely grateful for the invitation extended to our gold medal-winning U.S. Women's hockey team and deeply appreciate the recognition of their extraordinary achievement. Due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the games, the athletes are unable to participate. They were honored to be included and are grateful for the acknowledgment."
Which is a nice way of saying, "Puck off, Trump!" We've got better things to do.
***
Comedy Central The Daily Show
2/23/2026
11:09 PM ET
JON STEWART: I just don't know if our political systems are really all that different from Canada's.
DESI LYDIC: What? Are you kidding me? Our democracy separates executive power from the legislature with a president appointed by an electoral college, while their democracy appoints an executive based on the outcome of which governing party has the majority. And as we learned on the ice yesterday, that system sucks!
STEWART: The systems seem, actually, pretty similar. I mean, don't both the U.S. And Canada have bicameral legislatures?
LYDIC: Yes, but American senators are elected, while Canadian senators are appointed, just like how Canada just got appointed to our nuts, bitch!
STEWART: That kind of came out of nowhere, Desi. Comprehensive and filthy, Desi.
LYDIC: Aw, thank you! Here's another: In America, we have electoral districts. But in Canada, they call their districts ridings, which is fitting because Team Canada was riding our nuts, bitch!
STEWART: Jon: Please stop saying "Nuts."
LYDIC: I will not. I will not. And by the way, another reason we're better: America's congress has a sergeant at arms, but the Canadian parliament has an "Usher of the Black Rod," and speaking of ushering a black rod—
STEWART: No, no, Desi, no.
LYDIC: Yeah, I didn't like where that was going. Same way the Canadians didn't like where my nuts were going, bitch!
STEWART: Okay, don't encourage her! The cold weather has changed you! But the game didn't change the fact that Canadians still have a better health care system than we do.
LYDIC: Yes. Okay, I thought so, too, until I saw the scoreboard! For-profit health care: 1. Universal Canadian health care: 0. USA! USA!
STEWART: Desi, that wasn't even the final score.
