Florida Senator Rick Scott raged that U.S. athletes at the Olympics who criticize representing their country should be stripped of their uniforms.
His post Monday was the latest demand from MAGA lawmakers and influencers who are losing it over athletes on Team USA voicing disapproval of their home country on the world stage as they compete in Italy.
Scott did not specify who exactly had ticked him off, but his message was clear.
“Representing the United States—a beacon for freedom and democracy—at the Olympics is an honor. Anyone who feels otherwise should be stripped of their USA Olympic uniform," Scott wrote on X with his video.
It comes as multiple U.S. athletes have spoken out about the challenges of representing the U.S. as the country grapples with unrest, including ICE violence and killings on the street.
Freestyle skier Chris Lillis referenced ICE and said he was “heartbroken” over what’s happening in the U.S.
Figure skater Amber Glenn spoke out about the LGBTQ+ community facing a hard time under Trump.
Skier Hunter Hess told reporters representing the U.S. brings up “mixed emotions” and just because he’s wearing the U.S. flag does not mean he represents “everything that’s going on in the U.S.”
“Any person who goes to the Olympics to represent the United States and then says they don’t want to represent the United States should be immediately stripped of their Olympic uniform,” Scott declared in his video.
He wasn’t the only MAGA diehard to whine about members of Team USA. Florida Congressman Byron Donalds blasted Hess for disavowing what was happening in the U.S. with a post on X.
“YOU chose to wear our flag.YOU chose to represent our country.YOU chose to compete at the @Olympics," Donalds wrote. “If that’s too hard for you, then GO HOME. Some things are bigger than politics. You just don’t get it.”
Trump also raged at Hess as a “real Loser” in his own Truth Social post Sunday in which he said if he didn’t want to represent the U.S., he “shouldn’t have tried out for the Team.”
U.S. athletes who criticized the situation in the states were also met with fierce backlash from Trump’s MAGA supporters, who sounded off on social media even as the U.S. begins raking in medals.
Some called for Hess to be disqualified for his comments made during a press conference.
Pro-Trump wrestler Jake Paul chimed in with what he claimed was from all “true Americans,” writing: “If you don’t want to represent this country go live somewhere else.”
Right-wing media personality Megyn Kelly ranted that it was “bulls--t” for athletes to “go overseas, REPRESENTING America, wearing an American uniform, in a fierce competition against other countries - some with the worst human rights records on earth - and bash the US.”
But critics were quick to push back that it was athletes’ First Amendment right to speak out while others also noted that Trump has done something similar by slamming his own country while traveling abroad.
