An American soccer player who captains a Canadian team responded to his own fans booing the U.S. national anthem.
Fans at BC Place in Vancouver, Canada, booed a performance of the “Star-Spangled Banner” before a Major League Soccer game between the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Los Angeles Galaxy. The jeers were an ongoing response to threats of tariffs on Canadian goods by President Donald Trump. Despite the fact that Canada has tariffed U.S. goods for years, many sports fans have largely ignored this fact.
In the end, the Whitecaps pulled out a 2-1 victory, but as was the case with NHL fans in Vancouver and Ottawa, fans seemingly forgot their top player is an American.
‘It’s not my business.’
Enter Brian White, captain and all-time leading scorer for the Whitecaps. White is a native of New Jersey. He responded to his own fans booing his national anthem.
Despite largely took the high road, White said, “I would like to say thank you to the fans that cheered and clapped the anthem at the end and showed respect for the flag.”
He added, “Obviously there’s issues. It’s not my business, and I’ll leave it at that.”
White gave his remarks at a postgame press conference after receiving a question that was seemingly left until the end on purpose.
The ongoing anti-American sentiments have extended beyond Canada-versus-America hockey games and were even showcased at a recent WWE event in Toronto.
About 30,000 fans booed the U.S. national anthem at the Rogers Centre during the WWE event Elimination Chamber.
ESPN host Pat McAfee, a commentator for the WWE, called Canada “terrible” in reaction to the fans.
“These are the most stacked [matches] that the WWE has ever had. Kind of sucks that it’s in the terrible country of Canada that booed our national anthem to start this entire thing,” McAfee said comedically.
The host called for peace the following day but revealed he thought it was strange that fans equated hearing a national with the political policies of President Trump, as he did not make the same connection regarding the Canadian anthem and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Similarly, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) found a new way to take a dig at Canadians who have reportedly called for travel boycotts against the United States. After revealing that millions of Canadians had traveled to Florida, he said, “Maybe they wanted to get a glimpse of what a Stanley Cup-winning hockey team actually looks like.”
A Canadian NHL team has not won the Stanley Cup since 1993.
Whitecaps star White recently signed a contract extension through 2027, and this was the team’s first game against an American squad since the deal was inked.
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