02/09/26 08:44:00
Printable Page
02/09 20:42 CST When conflict meets competition: Trump's immigration agenda
roils opening days of Winter Olympics
When conflict meets competition: Trump's immigration agenda roils opening days
of Winter Olympics
By STEVEN SLOAN and EDDIE PELLS
Associated Press
LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) --- As the Winter Olympics opened in Milan, Vice President
JD Vance hailed the competition as "one of the few things that unites the
entire country."
That unity didn't last long.
The early days of the Milan Cortina Games have been roiled by the tumultuous
political debate in the U.S. American athletes have faced persistent questions
about President Donald Trump's aggressive immigration enforcement agenda and
their comfort in representing a country whose policies are increasingly
controversial on the world stage.
"There's obviously a lot going on that I'm not the biggest fan of and I think a
lot of people aren't," American freestyle skier Hunter Hess said as he spoke of
the "mixed emotions" of representing the U.S. "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."
That prompted a fast response from Trump, who said on social media that Hess
was a "real loser" who "shouldn't have tried out for the team."
"Very hard to root for someone like this," the president added.
The criticism of an American athlete from a U.S. president was a sharp
departure from the unifying, apolitical tones the White House typically strikes
during the Olympics, highlighting how the tension over the enforcement of
Trump's immigration policies has now bled into athletic competition. Other
leading conservative voices, ranging from podcaster Megyn Kelly to a Republican
candidate for governor in Florida, added to the critique of Hess, with some
calling for him to be taken off the U.S. team.
By Monday, other top athletes who have previously found themselves in political
controversy were rallying to Hess' defense.
"In moments like these, it is really important for us to unite and kind of
stand up for one another for all that's going on," said Chloe Kim, the two-time
Olympic gold medalist whose parents are South Korean immigrants and who has
faced racism throughout her career for her Asian heritage.
After her silver-medal win in slopestyle, Eileen Gu, who was born in San
Francisco and competes for China, said she had been in touch with Hess, who
told her she was one of the few people who could relate to what he's going
through.
"As someone who's been caught in the crossfire before, I feel sorry for the
athletes," said Gu, whose decision to compete for China drew sharp critiques.
The Olympics are never walled off from politics
The Olympics are never walled off from political and cultural debates. The
raised fists of Tommie Smith and John Carlos during the 1968 Olympics remain
one of the most powerful and enduring images of protest and resistance to
racial injustice in the U.S. Since then, political commentary from athletes has
become more commonplace, aided by social media platforms that allow competitors
to share their real-time thoughts on everything from food and nutrition to news
of the day.
The comments from athletes in Italy are notable, however, because they're
coming at the biggest global sporting event to occur since federal agents
killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis last month, reigniting a debate in the
U.S. and abroad over Trump's hard-line immigration measures.
Chris Lillis, another American freestyle skier, said he felt "heartbroken about
what's happening in the United States."
"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," he said. "I hope that when people look at athletes competing in the
Olympics, they realize that that's the America that we're trying to represent."
Skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin quoted Nelson Mandela as she acknowledged "a lot
of hardship in the world globally, and there's a lot of heartbreak, there's a
lot of violence."
"It can be tough to reconcile that when you're also competing for medals in an
Olympic event," she said. "I'm really hoping to show up and represent my own
values, values of inclusivity, values of diversity and kindness and sharing,
tenacity, work ethic, showing up with my team every single day."
For the most part, athletes are largely engaging in political conversation
during news conferences when they're specifically asked to respond to news
events. At one such press event, American figure skater Amber Glenn, an
outspoken LGBTQ+ rights activist, noted that the queer community is going
through a "hard time" under Trump. She later said she would step back from
social media after receiving threats on the platform.
Political controversy can put athletes at an uneasy intersection as they weigh
whether to use their platforms to take a stance or avoid anything that might
upset their fans or sponsors. During last month's Australian Open tennis
tournament, American Amanda Anisimova said questions about U.S. politics were
not "relevant." Another American player, Taylor Fritz, said he felt that
"whatever I say here is going to get put in a headline and it's going to get
taken out of context."
"So I'd really rather not do something that's going to cause a big distraction
for me in the middle of the tournament," he said.
Back at the Olympics, U.S. speedskater Casey Dawson, said "we definitely know
the whole situation going on in the USA" while noting that "politics don't
apply to us" at the Games.
"We're here to skate," said Dawson, who finished eighth in the men's 5,000
meters on Sunday with Vance and his family in the stands. "We're here to skate.
We're here to perform."
The spotlight on the U.S. that comes with global sports will only intensify in
the coming years. The U.S., along with Canada and Mexico, will host this year's
World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics will be held in Los Angeles. While
there's little chance that political tensions in the U.S. will ease in that
time, some hope that sports will serve as a way for people to process their
disagreements and ultimately come together.
"There's this really magical thing that sport can do," said Ashleigh Huffman,
who was the chief of sports diplomacy at the State Department during the Biden
and first Trump administrations. "It can lower the temperature of the room."
___
Sloan reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Howard Fendrich and
Graham Dunbar in Milan contributed to this report.
|
