Louisiana State University women’s basketball star Angel Reese didn’t take kindly to First Lady Jill Biden’s apparent White House invitation to her and her teammates after Dr Biden also invited the team they defeated in last weekend’s NCAA championship game.
By longstanding tradition the winners of the NCAA basketball tournament receive an invitation to the White House to celebrate their victory each year. But Dr Biden, who was in the stands for LSU’s victory over last year’s champions from the University of South Carolina, made a widely-panned faux pas when she said she wanted to invite both the winning and losing teams to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Reese, who transferred to LSU from the University of Maryland last year, wrote on Twitter that Dr Biden’s double-barrelled invitation was “a joke”.
On Instagram, she wrote separately that she and her team were “NOT COMING” to the White House.
Dr Biden’s comments also drew a rebuke from Louisiana Representative Troy Carter, who pointed out on social media that LSU had “won their first NCAA women’s Basketball Championship Title with a record-breaking score of 102-85”.
“With no disrespect to the outstanding players of the Iowa women’s team … they did not win,” he said. “LSU’s Women’s Basketball is the indisputable winner of the 2023 NCAA Championship and should enjoy this historic victory singularly.”
In a tweet of her own, Dr Biden’s press secretary Vanessa Valdivia said the First Lady’s comments “were intended to applaud the historic game and all women athletes” and stressed that Dr Biden “looks forward to celebrating the LSU Tigers on their championship win at the White House”.
