Biden will invite Bucs to the White House 'when it's COVID-safe'

WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden will invite the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to Washington, D.C. to celebrate their Super Bowl win once it is safe to do so, the White House said Monday.

Press Secretary Jen Psaki made the announcement during her press briefing on Monday, saying both the Bucs and the Los Angeles Lakers, who won the NBA championship back in October, will be invited to the White House.

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"We look forward to inviting the Buccaneers as well as the 2020 NBA champions, the Lakers, to the White House when it is COVID-safe, but I don't know when that will take place yet," she said during the briefing.

Biden tweeted a congratulatory message to the Bucs following their Sunday night win, saying the team's season "was a story of resilience, reinvention, and grit."

Psaki addressed videos and photos of maskless fans celebrating in the streets after the Bucs' win, saying Biden "is, of course, concerned when there are pictures and photos that showed many, many people without masks, in close distance with one another, at the height of a pandemic."

The president had appeared in a public service announcement during the Super Bowl's pre-game show, thanking health care workers and encouraging the public to continue to wear masks.

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Back in early January, the Lakers said they looked forward to visiting the White House once Biden took office.

While former President Donald Trump was in office, no NBA championship team made the ceremonial visit, Reuters reported.