I also have mixed emotions about my nation at the Olympics right now, Hunter Hess. A few days ago, the freestyle skier offered some tepid criticism of America after being asked what it’s like to represent Team USA in the current political climate. Hess responded by saying he has “mixed emotions.”
“There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of. I think a lot of people aren’t,” he added.
Hess didn’t specify exactly which things going on he isn’t the biggest fan of. There are, after all, so many to choose from. But that didn’t prevent Mt. Tushmore from taking his comments as a personal attack. “A real loser,” wrote the President of the United States about the highly decorated athlete, adding that it’s “too bad” Hess is on the Olympic squad.
I’m having a difficult time recalling a similar instance of any head of state personally insulting a member of their own Olympic team, although in 2016, Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe decried his entire national team as “rats” after they failed to capture any medals during the Rio Games. When you’re in a contest with Robert Mugabe about who’s the biggest a-hole, I would suggest that the loser isn’t the athlete.
Then again, of course Trump and his goofball minions are making the Olympics about themselves. J.D. Vance, who set a new Olympic record for most boos during an opening ceremony, has since declared that athletes who “pop off about politics” should expect “pushback.”
Fair enough. Those entering the public sphere should expect criticism and/or praise for their political remarks. And the nation is replete with idiots like Raymond Arroyo, who said during an appearance on The Ingraham Angle that Hess’s comments are “borderline treason.”
Borderline treason? For stating, as Hess did, that “just because I wear the American flag on my uniform doesn’t mean I represent of endorse everything that’s currently happening in the United States.” That’s contortion worthy of an Olympic gymnast.
I mean, I know I’m a pinko radical but that seems like an eminently reasonable thing to say about any country at pretty much any moment of world history.
To be fair, Arroyo wasn’t only directing his ire at Hess. Other American athletes have spoken up. Chloe Kim, Olympic snowboarder and second-generation American, offered the following treasonous comment: “The US has given my family and I so much opportunity, but I also think we are allowed to voice our opinions on what is going on,” Kim said on Monday, adding “I think we need to lead with love and compassion.”
Love? Compassion? Tell it to the military tribunal, Chloe!
Now it’s one thing for some Fox News bozo with spray-on hair giving Olympic athletes the what for, but it’s a qualitatively different matter when the nation’s political leaders do the same.
But here’s Florida Senator and Slenderman understudy, Rick Scott: “Representing the United States… at the Olympics is an honor. Anyone who feels otherwise should be stripped of their USA Olympic uniform.”
Of course, none of the athletes offering criticisms have said otherwise. Rather, they’ve all expressed immense gratitude and pride in the US. In her comments about the controversy, Olympic snowboarder Bea Kim, a first-generation American of Korean and Japanese descent, stated she’s “personally very proud to represent the United States,” adding that “diversity is what makes us a very strong country and what makes us so special.”
Diversity of opinion is sacrosanct in these here United States. Presumably, one of the reasons these young Olympians have such pride in their nation is because, here, anybody can speak their mind without fear—well, unless, of course, you happen to be a student supporting Palestine, a journalist covering a church protest or a social media user sharing the late Charlie Kirk’s positions, any of which can get you arrested, fired, or sent to one of the many warehouses currently being retrofitted into massive detention centers. The prison volleyball games featuring Olympic athletes are going to be LIT!
The Games’ oldest athlete, Team USA’s 54-year-old curling skip Rich Ruohonen, made his own feelings plain during a press conference on Tuesday. “I’m proud to be here to represent Team USA… but we’d be remiss if we didn’t at least mention what’s going on in Minnesota,” Ruohonen said of his home state. “What’s happening… is wrong. There’s no shades of grey. It’s clear.”
The final word, though, should go to the Olympian who kicked off the controversy, Hunter Hess. He competes next week, and I imagine he’s also having mixed emotions about what he’ll do if he wins gold and the President insists on poaching his medal. But that’s a problem for a different day.
In the meantime, Hess issued the following statement: “I love my country. There is so much that is great about America, but there are always things that could be better…. I cannot wait to represent Team USA next week when I compete.”
A fine patriotic sentiment from an Olympian. But who am I kidding? I’m a petty boy and I want to end with a point that I think best encapsulates the pettiness of the current administration and their eagerness to find upset with even the mildest criticism of their neo-fascist regime.
That honor falls to figure skater Amber Glenn, who after facing MAGA backlash for speaking out in support of the rights of LGBTQ people, posted a photo of her alongside fellow skater Alysa Liu and a caption that read: “They hate to see two woke b---hes winning.”
This proud American will stand and salute to that.
