LSU’s Angel Reese Rejects Jill Biden’s ‘Apology’ for Iowa Comments: ‘We’ll Go to the Obamas’

LSU women’s basketball player Angel Reese won’t just forgive and forget First Lady Jill Biden’s suggestion that Iowa should accompany the Tigers to the White House.

After LSU’s win over Iowa in the NCAA national championship, the first lady said she’d ask President Joe Biden to extend the White House invitation to Iowa. Traditionally, trips to the White House are reserved for the championship winners.

Reese took exception to comments. Iowa star Caitlin Clark said during an ESPN interview that the trip should be for the winners only. Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said the same on Twitter.

I gratefully acknowledge the First Lady’s sentiments, but a day at the White House should belong solely to the champion, LSU and Coach Mulkey. We would welcome the First Lady and President to come to Iowa’s “House” – Carver Hawkeye Arena — any time!

— Lisa Bluder (@LisaBluder) April 4, 2023

In reaction to the backlash, the first lady’s press secretary put out a statement clarifying that the comments were made to highlight how historic the game was for women’s athletics and that Iowa was never officially invited.

Her comments in Colorado were intended to applaud the historic game and all women athletes. She looks forward to celebrating the LSU Tigers on their championship win at the White House.

— Vanessa Valdivia (@vvaldivia46) April 4, 2023

Despite that, Reese said she won’t forgive the first lady.

“I’m not gonna lie to you, I don’t accept the apology because you said what you said,” Reese said during an interview on the Paper Route podcast. “I said what I said. You can’t go back on certain things that you say. I mean, you felt like they should’ve come because of ‘sportsmanship,’ right? They can have that spotlight. We’ll go to the Obamas.”

Additionally, Reese felt the only reason the first lady made the suggestion was because she was rooting for Iowa to win.

“When you came to the game, were you coming to see that one team win or were you coming to see everybody win?” Reese said. “It’s just hard to see that because we worked just as hard as Iowa did, and I just know if the roles were reversed, it would not be the same.”

Since the first lady’s comments, LSU’s players have remained undecided on their White House trip. There have been discussions, though.

“As soon as that happened, we hit the group chat like, ‘What we doing?'” Reese said. “‘Y’all trying to go? Because if we’re not going, we’re not going.'”