Feeling heat at the winter Olympics, a Team USA skier started singing a new tune about his “mixed emotions” representing his country, even as other athletes held firm to slamming their homeland.
Athletes getting political is hardly a new phenomenon, but recent remarks stepped beyond mere virtue signaling to find some distancing themselves from the Old Glory sewn onto their sleeve. Having been deemed a “Loser” by President Donald Trump, skier Hunter Hess chose to walk back his divisive commentary Monday, insisting on social media that he “cannot wait to represent Team USA.”
“I love my country,” wrote Hess on Instagram. “There is so much that is great about America, but there are always things that could be better. One of the many things that makes this country so amazing is that we have the right and the freedom to point that out. The best part of the Olympics is that it brings people together, and when so many of us are divided, we need that more than ever.”
“I cannot wait to represent Team USA next week when I compete. Thanks to everyone for their support,” he added.
View this post on Instagram
As had been reported, Trump criticized Hess after the skier insisted at a press conference, “I think it brings up mixed emotions to represent the U.S. now, I think. It’s a little hard. There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of, and I think a lot of people aren’t.”
Earning the defense of CNN’s Jake Tapper, who suggested the skier had offered “mild unspecified criticisms,” Hess went on to say, “I think for me it’s more I’m representing my, like, friends and family back home, the people that represent it before me, all the things that I believe are good about the U.S.”
Of course, while the corporate media attempted to demonize the president for expecting athletes competing under America’s flag to, at the very least, affirm they want to be on the team representing their country, other athletes were prodded to further the anti-America First discourse.
The Athletic, The New York Times’ sports publication, sought comment from U.S.-born skier Eileen Gu, who once again is competing for China at the Olympics, regarding the flak Hess received.
“I’m sorry that the headline that is eclipsing the Olympics has to be something so unrelated to the spirit of the Games. It really runs contrary to everything the Olympics should be,” she argued. “As someone who has got caught in the crossfire before, I feel sorry for the athletes. I hope that they can ski to their very best.”
The “crossfire” that Gu spoke of was her decision to represent her mother’s native land instead of her own, which earned her heavy criticism in the past.
Likewise, snowboarder Chloe Kim, whose parents left South Korea for the United States in 1982, told the outlet, “Obviously, my parents being immigrants, this one hits pretty close to home.”
“We need to lead with love and compassion, and I’d love to see more of that,” the athlete said.
Meanwhile, the insistence of the press to raise political issues pertaining to the United States found RealClearPolitics White House reporter Philip Wegmann calling for fair play.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio reacted to the 20-year sentence delivered to anti-Chinese Communist Party activist Jimmy Lai, 78, by deeming it “unjust and tragic,” showing “the world that Beijing will go to extraordinary lengths to silence those who advocate fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong, casting aside the international commitments Beijing made in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration.”
With the United States’ urging of parole for Lai in mind, Wegmann suggested amid further slams of Hess, “Because the press is obsessed with asking Olympians about American politics, a welcome change could be asking Eileen Gu, the US skier competing for the CCP, about China giving Jimmy Lai a death sentence.”
Because the press is obsessed with asking Olympians about American politics, a welcome change could be asking Eileen Gu, the US skier competing for the CCP, about China giving Jimmy Lai a death sentence.
— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) February 9, 2026
Because they treat politics like their religion, and it’s their religious duty to virtue signal whenever they have the opportunity.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 9, 2026
Yeah, not buying it. The first statement was what he really thinks. This right here is just trying to do damage control.
— AstroRayne (@AstroRayne47873) February 9, 2026
Too little, too late. He’s probably lying anyway.
— CatT106 (@cathie89506) February 9, 2026
Screw HIM, I hope he loses every event, he does not speak for me, or anybody else that I know
— don stringer (@donstringer18) February 9, 2026
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.