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President Trump brought a needed moment of national pride to the Oval Office this week when he signed a bill awarding Congressional Gold Medals to members of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team — the legendary “Miracle on Ice” squad that stunned the Soviet juggernaut. The players, led by captain Mike Eruzione, stood tall as Americans again, wearing the same white cowboy hats they sported at Lake Placid, and reminded the country what patriotic grit looks like. This administration did the right thing by honoring blue-collar heroes who proved that underdogs who work hard and believe in America can beat any odds.
Mike Eruzione’s presence at the ceremony was more than nostalgia; it connected a defining Cold War victory to the challenges facing our country now. Eruzione praised his teammates for closing the deal in 1980, and the scene of the team being lauded in the Oval Office underscored a simple truth conservatives have said for years — patriotism and strength matter. While left-wing outlets scrambled for outrage, millions of Americans felt the warmth of a unifying, unapologetic celebration of American greatness.
Predictably, the coastal media tried to make a controversy out of a moment that should have united us, dredging up the old 2020 flap about campaign hats and smearing decent men for appearing with the president. The Washington Post led the predictable hand-wringing back when some players accepted campaign caps at a rally, and that manufactured outrage has been used to weaponize sports figures ever since. Conservatives see through that game: you honor national heroes, you don’t cancel them because a campus professor or a click-bait outlet decides to be offended.
Eruzione himself has been candid and humble about mistakes — saying he didn’t follow politics closely and expressing regret about any unintended controversy from the past — which only proves these are ordinary Americans, not political actors. That honesty should end the witch-hunt: Americans respect men who admit a misstep and still stand by their country and their teammates. If the partisan press wants to attack veterans and sports legends for taking a photograph with a Republican president, that says far more about the media’s contempt for everyday Americans than it does about the players.
When reporters pressed veterans about how the politics of 1980 compare to today, conservatives should welcome the comparison: the Soviet threat then was real and brutal, and the threats to freedom now come in new forms — from authoritarian regimes like China to homegrown statism that would shrink liberty at home. Calling out the real dangers of centralized power, whether foreign or domestic, is not fearmongering; it’s remembering history so we don’t repeat it. Patriots know that defending freedom requires clarity about our enemies and courage at home to reject creeping collectivist ideas dressed up as compassion.
This ceremony was a reminder that America’s story belongs to working people whose sacrifice and sweat built this country, not to cable pundits who traffic in division. President Trump honored champions of resilience and teamwork, and that message landed with millions of Americans who are tired of elites lecturing them about who and what to revere. Let the media howl — the real country heard a powerful lesson: stand with those who built America, teach our children the price of freedom, and never apologize for patriotism.
