Yesterday (April 3), First Lady Jill Biden revealed she wants to invite the Louisiana State University and The University of Iowa’s women’s basketball teams to the White House, and Twitter erupted.
On Sunday (April 2), LSU defeated Iowa 102-85 for their first NCAA national championship in the program’s history. And Biden was in attendance at the game.
The next day, Biden spoke at the Colorado State Capitol in Denver and offered LSU, the national champs, and Iowa, the runner-ups, an opportunity to visit Washington, D.C. as previously reported.
However, two LSU players declined the trip after they took issue with her extended offer to Iowa, but they weren’t alone.
One of the many other people to respond was Shannon Sharpe on his show “Undisputed” with co-host Skip Bayless. During the live broadcast, Sharpe said:
“What is this about? Now because the young ladies that won look like me and the people that lost look like [Biden], now we’re going to invite the runner-up… Never in history, Skip. That’s part of winning a national championship. Guess what, Skip? We get invited to the White House. The losers don’t get anything. This is not a participation award. And that’s what watered down sports in America.”
He continued, “Come on, Dr. Biden. You know better than this… I just want [Biden] to tell me why she wants to invite Iowa. In all the runner-ups in history, [a team] has never been invited. So, what makes Iowa so unique? What makes them so different? Is it because they’re the little darlings, and they look like you? I’m just saying the optics look really bad.”
But Sharpe wasn’t alone in his stance. The Atlantic‘s Jemele Hill also posed a question on Twitter. “Do you think LSU would have been invited to the White House if Iowa beat them?” she asked. “Here’s a hint: NO.”
Biden has not yet responded to LSU players declining the White House visit. Check out more of Twitter users’ reactions to the first lady offering LSU and Iowa a visit below: