MS Now’s fun haters at Morning Joe had an interesting recap on Friday of the previous day’s Olympic events, where the U.S. women’s hockey team defeated Canada in a dramatic overtime comeback to win the gold medal, and American figure skater Alysa Liu also took home gold. Forcing politics into sports, ESPN talking head Pablo Torre, the hockey women proved one can cheer on America without embracing a certain nameless president, while host Joe Scarborough and New York Times opinion writer Eugene Robinson argued it was ironic for “MAGA World” to celebrate an immigrant. Torre declared that “the thing I marvel at not only is the way that, oh, wait a minute, maybe there's the possibility of a global village in some capacity. Still, when I watch these games, maybe there's the capacity for us to celebrate American dominance in a way that feels genuine as opposed to, you know, a series of lies to prop up a certain administration.”   Former ESPN talking head Pablo Torre says of the U.S. hockey women winning gold, "maybe there's the capacity for us to celebrate American dominance in a way that feels genuine as opposed to, you know, a series of lies to prop up a certain administration." Joe Scarborough adds, "I… pic.twitter.com/9Ik9Jitnug — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) February 20, 2026   Team USA has always been a key part of American monoculture, which is why some athletes’ desire to opine on politics has been so disappointing. If liberals such as Torre let their feelings about Trump overpower their feelings for the country, that says more about them than it does Trump. However, the hot takes were just beginning. Scarborough told Robinson that “It was really inspiring. I will say how hilarious that the sort of MAGA, online MAGA World were celebrating Alyssa Liu's gold medal without a hint of any irony. Celebrating the immigrant. Who they were celebrating as an American, you know, USA, USA. Which, of course, that's basically proving the point that we've been making all along, that Ronald Reagan made in his final speech to America, that we are strengthened by immigrants.” The context for this is that Liu’s father fled China for his role in supporting the Tiananmen Square protests and has been stalked by Chinese spies ever since. It also comes as American-born skier Eileen Gu chose to dump her country and compete for her mother’s China, America’s biggest rival in the world today. Gu, who has no problem speaking out against Trump, is not prepared to discuss China’s genocidal repression of the Uyghurs. Of course, Scarborough left all that out. As for Robinson, he agreed with Scarborough and while cracking himself and Scarborough up, declared, “Oops. Yes, they, you know, they're celebrating this. You know, ‘We're supposed to hate this, but we can't hate it because USA, USA.’ So, you know, it's—it was crazy. Those were two amazing moments yesterday, though.” Beyond being a gold medalist, conservatives' embrace of Liu as a role model has to do with the contrast she provides with Gu. One is a story of patriotism and assimilation, while the other is a story of betrayal for money. Liu and Gu are a great snapshot of the immigration dilemma: some immigrants move to America and instill their children with the virtues of America and some don’t. The problem is Morning Joe only wants to talk about one side of the equation. Here is a transcript for the February 20 show: MS NOW Morning Joe 2/20/2026 9:02 AM ET PABLO TORRE: But finally we get to the Olympics— JOE SCARBOROUGH: Yeah. Yeah. TORRE: —and in the Olympics, look, the thing I marvel at not only is the way that, oh, wait a minute, maybe there's the possibility of a global village in some capacity. Still, when I watch these games, maybe there's the capacity for us to celebrate American dominance in a way that feels genuine as opposed to, you know, a series of lies to prop up a certain administration. But also what it's like when you don't choke under pressure. It's amazing. These are not athletes who are going to make millions of dollars in their lives. This is it. And when you see Americans do this— SCARBOROUGH: Yeah. TORRE: — it is. It's the best of us in a sincere way for a couple of weeks. JOE SCARBOROUGH: It really is. And Gene Robinson, it was really inspiring. I will say how hilarious that the sort of MAGA, online MAGA World were celebrating Alysa Liu's gold medal without a hint of any irony. Celebrating the immigrant. TORRE: That's right. SCARBOROUGH: Who they were celebrating as an American, you know, USA, USA. Which, of course, that's basically proving the point that we've been making all along, that Ronald Reagan made in his final speech to America, that we are strengthened by immigrants. EUGENE ROBINSON: Oops. Yes, they, you know, they're celebrating this. You know, “we're supposed to hate this, but we can't hate it because USA, USA.” So, you know, it's—it was crazy. Those were two amazing moments yesterday, though.