United States President Donald Trump has hit out at comments made by a U.S. Olympic skier who expressed mixed emotions about representing the United States at the ongoing Winter Olympics in Italy. Freestyle skier Hunter Hess was among member of Team USA who told a media briefing in Milan on Friday that just because he’s wearing the U.S. flag did not mean he was representing everything going on in his home country, a reference to the often violent actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on the streets of the United States.
President Trump hit back at the skier, calling him a loser.
The comments from the freestyle skiers came on the same day U.S. Vice President, JD Vance and his wife Usha Vance received a frosty reception when they attended the opening ceremony of the Winter Games, on Friday. Audible boos were heard ringing out in the crowd as they appeared on screen as Team USA made its entrance.
Add to that these comments by members of Team USA freestyle skiing team including Chris Lillis.
“I love the USA and I think I would never want to represent a different country in the Olympics. With that being said, you know, a lot of times athletes are hesitant to talk about political views and how we feel about things. I feel heartbroken about what’s happened in the United States when, you know, I’m pretty sure you’re referencing ICE and some of the protests and things like that. I think that as a country, we need to focus on respecting everybody’s rights and making sure that we’re treating our citizens as well as anybody with love and respect. And I hope that when people look at athletes competing in the Olympics, they realise that that’s the America that we’re trying to represent,” says Lillis.
While others like Quinn Dehlinger reflected on how the games were an example of bringing people together.
“Yeah, the political divide in the United States is very prevalent. And competition and sports is always a way to bring people together. And I think the Olympics is a great spot in that where it brings every country and all athletes and all aspects of people from everywhere together. So I think that this is just a great way to show one country.”
They were not alone, with Alpine skier and gold medal favourite Mikaela Shiffrin speaking up for diversity and inclusion, issues that have been zealously attacked and undercut by members of the Trump administration.
“It’s truly an honour to be here. And for me, as this relates to the Olympics, I’m really hoping to show up and represent my own values,” says Shiffrin.
While these comments from Oregon-born Hunter Hess seemingly irked President Trump the most.
“It brings up mixed emotions to represent the U.S. right now, I think. It’s a little hard. There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of, and I think a lot of people aren’t. I think for me it’s more I’m representing my, like, friends and family back home, the people that represented it before me, all the things that I believe are good about the U.S.. I just think, if it aligns with my moral values, I feel like I’m representing it. Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.. So yeah, I just kind of want to do it like for my friends and my family and the people that supported me getting here,” says Hess.
Trump took to Truth Social to vent, calling Hess a real loser for saying he didn’t represent his country in the current Winter Olympics, suggesting that he shouldn’t have tried out for the Team, saying its too bad that he was on it and that it was very hard to root for someone like that.
And as these individual players express their personal political views, the International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry has indicated that while they understand that they do not operate in a vacuum, their game is sport, which in her view means keeping sport as a neutral ground, a place where every athlete can compete without being held back by the politics or divisions of their governments.
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