President Biden called LSU women’s basketball star Angel Reese on Friday to congratulate her on her team’s championship season — just days after the Lady Tigers player criticized the first lady for suggesting the runner-up school should also be invited to the White House.
It’s unclear if Biden, 80, and Reese, 20, discussed anything else on the call.
Reese had previously said she was unsure if she would join her LSU teammates at the White House after defeating Iowa in the national championship game because of first lady Jill Biden’s comments – which Reese called “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 on 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.
Her spokeswoman later walked back the comments and said that only LSU would receive a White House invite.
During a Friday appearance on “SportsCenter,” Reese said that she would indeed take part in the team’s DC trip to meet the Bidens.
“In the beginning we were hurt — it was emotional because we know how hard we worked all year for everything,” Reese said of Jill Biden’s remarks and her hesitancy to visit the White House.
“You don’t get that experience [to go to the White House] ever, and I know my team probably wants to go for sure and my coaches are supportive of that so I’m going to do what’s best for the team and we’ve decided we’re going to go.
“I’m a team player,” Reese added.
The president on Friday also spoke to LSU Tigers women’s basketball head coach Kim Mulkey and left a message for UConn Huskies men’s basketball head coach Dan Hurley to congratulate them on their respective national championships and invite both teams to the White House.
No specific dates for the visits have been set
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