By Sheila Dang
Feb 8 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump criticized American Olympic skier Hunter Hess on Sunday, days after the athlete expressed mixed feelings about representing the U.S. at the Winter Olympics in northern Italy.
“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 post on his Truth Social media platform, referencing Hess’ comments. “Very hard to root for someone like this.”
Political tensions have surfaced at the Milano Cortina Olympics, including over the presence of personnel from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The agency has faced widespread protests across the U.S. after agents shot and killed two people in Minneapolis last month.
During a news conference in Milan on Friday, Hess, a freestyle skier, said it was “a little hard” to represent the U.S. and he felt mixed emotions.
“There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of, and I think a lot of people aren’t,” he said. “Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.”
Fellow ski team member Chris Lillis spoke out against ICE at the same news conference, saying he felt heartbroken.
“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,” Lillis said. “And 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.”
A spokesperson for U.S. Ski & Snowboard did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Sheila Dang in Houston; Additional reporting by Lisa A. Richwine in Milan; Editing by Sergio Non, Paul Simao and Diane Craft)
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