JD Vance Warns Olympians To Expect Pushback After Multiple Speak Out Against ICE At Winter Olympics

In the Winter Olympics opening ceremony, JD Vance was met with loud boos from the San Siro stadium when he appeared on screen.

JD Vance Warns Olympians To Expect Pushback After Multiple Speak Out Against ICE At Winter Olympics

JD Vance (Image via The New York Times)

In Short
  • Multiple US Olympians have spoken out against ICE-related violence during the Winter Olympics.
  • JD Vance warned athletes to expect backlash for political statements while representing the country.
  • Vance faced boos at the Olympics opening ceremony, attributed to his previous criticisms of Europe.

The United States of America administration has been put on the stand at the Winter Olympics as multiple athletes speak out against the massive uptick in Immigration and Customs Enforcement-related violence in the country.

In a year since business mogul Donald Trump came back to power for a second time, there have been four hundred thousand individuals who have been arrested by the enforcement agency.

In the past few weeks, the increase in ICE-related killings, including the high-profile murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, has led to a huge uproar in the country. The Winter Olympics, happening amid the unrest, have become a stage for sports activism. The snowboarders Christopher Lillis and Hunter Hess were the first to address and condemn the current political atmosphere in the country.

In the past few days, many other US Olympians echoed the sentiments shared by Lillis and Hess and voiced their stance on the issue. Hess has received significant backlash from right-wing media outlets and the president himself. In a reply to Hess’s comments, Trump called the skier “a real loser.“

Meanwhile, the vice president, JD Vance, while noting that athletes have a right to intrude in politics, warned them that they can expect such pushback if they pop off about politics. He told the reporters:

When you’re representing the country, you’re representing Democrats and Republicans. You’re there to play a sport… You’re not there to pop off about politics. So when Olympic athletes enter the political arena, they should expect some pushback.

He also added that attacking the president of the United States is not the way to bring people together. Vance was one of the recipients of this growing dissent against the political atmosphere, both nationally and internationally. Along with his wife, he was present at the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Milan, a stage where he was booed by the stadium when he appeared on the screen.

EU Foreign Policy Chief Offers Explanation for JD Vance Booing Incident

In his talk with the reporter, JD Vance shrugged off the boos at San Siro on February 6. He claimed that he had a good time at the Olympics. The Americans could believe that, as they didn’t hear the noise on their screens.

JD Vance with his wife, Usha at the San Siro Stadium in Milan during the opening ceremony (Image via Associated Press)
JD Vance with his wife, Usha, at the San Siro Stadium in Milan during the opening ceremony (Image via Associated Press)

The NBC has been accused of censoring the boos heard in Milan on the night, continuing a trend seen with Donald Trump at the US Open. The international broadcasters picked up the boos, and the commentators made notes on them too. There were videos of the uncensored boos on X before the platform removed them.

Vance might pass it off as a glitch in the matrix, but it had happened, and the EU Foreign Policy chief has an answer for why San Siro came together in coordination to boo Vance and shift to cheers when the athletes came on screen.

Kaja Kallas quoted that “European pride,” from Vance’s continuous dismissal of Europe, led to them booing him during the ceremony.

I guess we have heard a lot of not so nice words from United States regarding Europe. And of course, our public also has a pride, European pride. So it shows.

The vice president was quite critical about Europe last year during a visit to the Munich Security Conference, questioning whether they shared the same democratic vision as the USA. He also famously noted that he “just hate bailing Europe out again.”

There were also threats made at the time to the countries on the continent during the phase when they wanted to buy Greenland from Denmark. Well, with that its not very surprising that Europe wasn’t cheering for Vance.

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