First Lady Jill Biden’s office backs off idea of inviting Iowa to White House alongside LSU

WASHINGTON D.C. (WVUE) - On Sunday (April 2), the LSU Lady Tigers won their first-ever National Championship over Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes.

The highly anticipated matchup pulled in an all-time record 9.9 million viewers for the Women’s College Basketball NCAA Championship.

As the tradition goes, the Lady Tigers have qualified for a trip to the White House. But for a brief moment in time, it appeared that they might have had to share their time with...Iowa?

First Lady Jill Biden floated the idea after the game as a way to celebrate the progress made in women’s sports in the years since the federal Title IX ruling that protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance.

“I know we’ll have the champions come to the White House, we always do. So, we hope LSU will come,” she said. “But, you know, I’m going to tell Joe I think Iowa should come, too, because they played such a good game.”

That statement was met with backlash from everyone from LSU star Angel Reese to former and current athletes, to local government leaders.

READ MORE LSU players balk at Jill Biden floating an Iowa invitation to White House

Now, it appears the First Lady’s office is backing off of that idea. The office’s press secretary Vanessa Valdivia made the following statement:

So for now, the First Lady’s idea seems like a thought that was made in the moment. The invites typically come from the President’s office. President Biden has made no indication that Iowa will also be invited when LSU makes the trip to D.C.

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