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US President Donald Trump on Sunday said it was difficult to cheer for American Olympians who spoke out against the administration’s policies, calling one such critic “a real Loser” who should have stayed home.
This is the latest and most famous example of US Olympians at the Milan Cortina Games inviting online backlash with their words.
Reporters on Friday asked US athletes at a news conference how they feel representing the country during the Trump administrationincreased immigration enforcementactions. Freestyle skier Hunter Hess answered that he has mixed emotions because he does not agree with the situation, and that he is in Milan competing for all those who helped him in The Games.
“If it’s in line with my moral values, I feel like I’m representing it,” Hess said. “Just because I wear the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the US”
YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul was among those who joined Hess.
“From all true Americans If you don’t want to represent this country, live somewhere else,” he wrote Xwhere he has 4.4 million followers. Minutes later, he was photographedsitting next to US Vice President JD Vancein the US women’s hockey game in the Olympic host city of Milan.
Trump said the next day that Hess’ comments made it harder to root for him.
“Hess, a real Loser, says he won’t represent his country this Winter Olympics. If that was the case, he wouldn’t have tried out for the Team, and it’s a shame he’s on it,” he wrote on his Truth Social account.
Hess isn’t the only athlete to express dissatisfaction — or face blowback
At a news conference Friday with athletes, freestyle skier Chris Lillis addressed Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying he was “sad” about what’s happening in the U.S.
“I think, as a country, we need to focus on respecting everyone’s rights and making sure we treat our citizens as well as anyone else, with love and respect,” Lillis said. “I hope that when people watch the athletes compete in the Olympics, they know that that’s the America that we’re trying to represent.”
And US figure skater Amber Glenn said the LGBTQ+ community is struggling during the Trump administration.
In addition to Paul, conservative figures who have criticized athletes on social media include former NFL quarterback Brett Favre, actor Rob Schneider and US Rep. Byron Donalds – who has been endorsed by Trump for the Florida gubernatorial race in November. And there was a flood of vitriol directed at them from ordinary Americans.
Posted by Glenn Instagram that she received “a frightening amount of hate/threats for simply using my voice TO ASK how I feel.” He added that he will start limiting his use of social media for his own good.
In response to questions from The Associated Press, the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee said in a statement on Sunday that they are aware of the increasing number of abusive and harmful messages directed at athletes and are doing their best to remove the content and report credible threats to law enforcement.
“The USOPC stands firmly behind the athletes of Team USA and remains committed to their well-being and safety, both on and off the playing field,” it said.
Protests against ICE in Italy
Support for the US abroad has eroded as the Trump administration continues an aggressive foreign policy posture, including punitive tariffs, military action in Venezuela and threats to invade Greenland.
During the opening ceremony, the athletes of Team USA were cheered,but jeers and whistles could be heard as Vanceand his wife, second lady Usha Vance, were shown on stadium screens, waving American flags from the stands.
In Milan,many demonstrationserupted against the local deployment of ICE agents — even after explaining that they were from an investigative unit completely separate from the law enforcement unitleading to an explosion in immigrationin the US
Homeland Security Investigations, an ICE unit that focuses on cross-border crimes, often sends its officers to overseas events like the Olympics to help with security. The arm of ICE seen on US streets is known as Enforcement and Removal Operations, and there is no indication that its officers have been sent to Italy.
A demonstration on Saturday featured thousands of protesters. At the end of it, a small number of them fought with the police, who fired tear gas and a water cannon. That followsanother one last weekwhen hundreds protested the dispatch of ICE agents.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
