President Donald Trump has branded Team USA Olympic halfpipe skier Hunter Hess a “real loser” after the athlete spoke out against “everything that’s going on in the U.S.”
When asked what it meant to represent the U.S. at the Milan Cortina games, Hess, 27, told Reuters, “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.”
”Just because I'm wearing the flag doesn't mean I represent everything that's going on in the U.S,” he added.
The Bend, Oregon, native went on to say that he was instead representing “all the things I believe are good about the U.S.”
In response to those words, Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday morning, “U.S. Olympic Skier, Hunter 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. Very hard to root for someone like this. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
The MAGA reaction to Hess’s comments has been gathering steam in recent days, with right-wing provocateur Jack Posobiec retweeting a video of the skier with the words, “Easily solved. Get out.”
Trump-friendly YouTubers-turned boxer Jake Paul echoed these sentiments tweeting, “Wow pls shut the f--- up. From all true Americans. If you don’t want to represent this country go live somewhere else.” Over the weekend, Paul attended the games alongside Vice President JD Vance.
Fellow freestyle skier also spoke out about issues in the U.S., telling the media, “A lot of times, athletes are hesitant to talk about political views and how we feel about things. I feel heartbroken about what’s happening in the United States.”
“I’m pretty sure you’re referencing ICE and some of the protests and things like that. I think that 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 continued.
Lillis followed up by saying there is no other country he’d rather represent on the international stage than the U.S.
While figure skater Amber Glenn has also spoken out.
“Politics affects us all. It is something I will not just be quiet about,” she told the media.
This prompted a response from former Fox News star Megyn Kelly, who tweeted, “Another turncoat to root against.”
Hess has had a difficult path to Italy after a string of injuries ruled him out of previous games.
“The last Olympic qualifying process was crazy,” Hess told KTVZ. “Everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong. I tore my MCL, did all the recovery, and everything was tracking perfectly.”
The day before he was due to get back to training, he suffered appendicitis.
“I woke up in the middle of the night with appendicitis. I drove myself to the hospital, had immediate surgery, and was out even longer.”
His comeback was made complete this past January when he confirmed his qualification for the Cortina games.
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