For some unknown reason, American athletes representing the United States in the Olympic games in South Korea have gone out of their way to disrespect President Trump — before they’ve even competed.
Some said they wouldn’t shake his hand, others said they wouldn’t go to the White House. (Again, this was before they even did anything.)
Then, they failed. So, maybe there really is a curse — the curse of dissing Trump.
Take American Maddie Bowman. She failed to win a gold medal — or a medal of any color — in the free-ski halfpipe. She won gold at the 2014 Olympics, but she fell on all three runs during the final on Tuesday in Pyeong Chang. In the end, she finished 11th.
Bowman told Sports Illustrated earlier this month that she wouldn’t visit the White House under the current administration. “I probably couldn’t see myself — if I do get the opportunity to go to the Olympics and therefore get the opportunity to go to the White House. I don’t think I could go,” Bowman said.
Well, now she won’t have to struggle with that dilemma. White House invites are for winners. No soup for you, come back, one year.
Figure skater Adam Rippon also said he would never visit the White House. Rippon, who is gay, said he would skip the traditional post-Olympics gathering in protest against what he sees as homophobia among the administration. “No. I have no desire to go to the White House,” Rippon told the Daily Mail.
Rippon has also said he would not shake hands with Vice President Mike Pence. And said it again and again and again. Then he said, “I don’t want my Olympic experience to be about Mike Pence.” That amused Donald Trump Jr., who said on Twitter:
NBC loved Rippon so much they tried to hire him. At first Rippon agreed, but after a backlash, he bailed. And Rippon, not exactly humble, said this about himself: “You know, I’m not like a gay icon, or America’s gay sweetheart. I’m just America’s sweetheart and I’m just an icon.”
Well. The “icon” finished 10th in the free skate (by our math that’s seven places out of a medal).
Then there’s the most famous of the Trump-hating Olympians — Lindsey Vonn. Before the Olympics, she said she would be representing the “people of the United States, not the president.”
Asked if she would accept an invite to the White House to meet Trump if she were to win a gold medal , Vonn said “absolutely not.”
“No. But I have to win to be invited,” she added.
Problem solved. Vonn came in sixth in the Super-G ski race — the gold medal was won by a snowboarder from the Czech Republic. A snowboarder!
We’re not happy the U.S. athletes failed (and Vonn could still win a medal in the downhill, so we’re pulling for her). But it is odd that all these athletes who dissed Trump went on to lose.
Don’t they know by now that if they just support him, they would have so much winning that they’d get bored with it?!