US Olympians rip Trump’s atrocities, infuriating GOP

In yet another sign that the GOP doesn't actually care about free speech, President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers are trashing U.S. Olympians who said they do not support the cruelty that Trump is carrying out back home, calling them un-American and even rooting for them to lose.

Multiple Olympians, including freestyle skiers Hunter Hess and Chris Lillis, have said they do not support Trump's violent and deadly immigration crackdown in the United States. 

Hess said at a news conference that "it brings up mixed emotions to represent the U.S. right now," and that, "there's obviously a lot going on that I'm not the biggest fan of and I think a lot of people aren't. Just because I'm wearing the flag doesn't mean I represent everything that's going on in the U.S." 

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Speaking at a press conference in Milan, Team USA freestyle skiers Chris Lillis and Hunter Hess said the actions of ICE agents do not reflect the country they represent https://t.co/GZHRFUuWMz pic.twitter.com/JQI93JuCnT

— Reuters Sports (@ReutersSports) February 6, 2026

Lillis, meanwhile, said that the U.S. “needs to focus on respecting everybody’s rights and making sure that we’re treating our citizens as well as anybody with love and respect. And I hope that when people look at the athletes competing in the Olympics they realize that that’s the America that we’re trying to represent.”

U.S. figure skater Amber Glenn also spoke out about Trump's anti-LGBTQ+ policies, saying at a news conference that, "Politics affect us all. It is something that I will not just be quiet about."

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BREAKING: American figure skater Amber Glenn just powerfully spoke about how she is using her platform to support LGBTQ+ Americans under the Trump Administration. This is amazing. pic.twitter.com/VRyKbsMUWT

— Democratic Wins Media (@DemocraticWins) February 7, 2026

But Trump and the GOP simply cannot handle that anyone would oppose Dear Leader or his policies, calling the athletes out and siccing their MAGA base against them.

“Hess, a real Loser, says he doesn’t represent his Country in the current Winter Olympics. If that’s the case, he shouldn’t have tried out for the Team, and it’s too bad he’s on it," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Saturday.

Republican members of Congress also piled on.

Rep. Byron Donalds, the Florida Republican running for governor of the Sunshine State, parroted his puppet master, writing in a post on X on Saturday, "YOU chose to wear our flag. YOU chose to represent our country. YOU chose to compete at the @Olympics. If that’s too hard for you, then GO HOME. Some things are bigger than politics. You just don’t get it."

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) told Hess to, “Shut up and go play in the snow.”

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) went a step further, saying Hess and anyone else who feels the need to speak out against Trump should be banned from competing.

"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 said Sunday in a post on X.

The dumbest response, among many dumb responses, however, came from Rep. Derrick Van Orden, who wrote in a post on X:

If @TeamUSA skier Hunter Hess wants to rep just his ‘friends and family’, and not all of America, then his friends and family should be footing the bill for his all expense paid boondoggle to Italy, not the American tax payer. These heroes did not have ‘mixed feelings’ about risking their lives for his entitled, ungrateful ass. Hess needs to be stripped of that uniform and sent back home via Arlington National Cemetery.

But taxpayers do not fund Olympic athletes. In fact, the U.S. is one of the only countries that doesn’t fund their Olympic teams, according to NBC News, which said that the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee is funded through corporate sponsorships, donations, and broadcast licensing. Looks like Van Orden should’ve done more research before running his own mouth.

Of course, being able to criticize your own government is exactly what makes the United States free. Making athletes stay silent or punishing them for speech directly violates the First Amendment right to free speech. 

Related | Republicans aren’t even pretending to give a sh-t about free speech now

The Republican Party once said it stood for free speech.

But in actuality, they only want free speech for themselves so they can espouse their racist and cruel positions without any repercussions. They want everyone else to shut up and let them violently arrest immigrants, anyone they think looks like an immigrant, and citizens who are standing up to the administration’s brutality. 

"Trump called American Olympian Hunter Hess a 'real loser' for criticizing what’s happening in our country under Trump. Mr. President, this is not a monarchy. This is the United States and no one is required to bow down to you," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) wrote in a post on X. "Hess is not a 'loser.' He's a proud American."

rss@dailykos.com (Emily Singer)مصدر