The far-right Congressman, who perhaps is most infamous for his role in former President Donald Trump's rally that incited the January 6 Capitol riot, tweeted:
"If you went to the Olympics to represent America and decided to represent another nation once you arrived there, your citizenship should be revoked."
If you went to the Olympics to represent America and decided to represent another nation once you arrived there, your citizenship should be revoked.— Madison Cawthorn (@Madison Cawthorn) 1644192550
Ummm...
Does Madison Cawthorn think someone went to the Olympics with everyone thinking they were gonna represent America and then unmasked as a Chinese representive during the games?https://twitter.com/CawthornforNC/status/1490477700603170819\u00a0\u2026— Ewan Ross (@Ewan Ross) 1644258032
The piece of the story that Cawthorn missed was that while Yi was born in Los Angeles as Beverly Yi, she renounced her U.S. citizenship in 2018 to compete as Zhu Yi for China in 2022–as China does not allow dual citizenship.
Yi–who is not fluent in Chinese–was one of several foreign-born athletes competing for China at the 2022 Winter Games, including freestyle skier Eileen Gu, who was also born in California.
Users took to China's social media platform, Weibo, and shared the hashtag “Zhu Yi Fell Over,” and it was viewed over 230 million times before it was seemingly censored.
Many Weibo users complained that an American-born skater took the place of a competitor who could have been a born native of the host country to compete in Beijing.
But when Cawthorn–who has claimed his preferred pronouns were "MA/GA"–added his own ignorant hot take, it did not go well.
Do people actually take you seriously?— Caitlin (@Caitlin) 1644192920
Karen Kawthorn would like to speak to the Manager of Beijing.https://twitter.com/cawthornfornc/status/1490477700603170819\u00a0\u2026— PoliticOhMyGawd (@PoliticOhMyGawd) 1644202210
I have read this tweet over and over. It still makes no sense. So like you make team USA and last minute say nah I\u2019m gonna compete for Japan? Can you cite an example of this messy tweet? Thank you.— Michael Buckley (@Michael Buckley) 1644210235
I mean, this is literally impossible so of course he can\u2019t cite an example. You can\u2019t just change your country at the Olympics.— Jamie \ud83d\udc69\u200d\ud83d\udcbb \u2665 (@Jamie \ud83d\udc69\u200d\ud83d\udcbb \u2665) 1644220293
You don't go to the Olympics and then decide to represent another country. Athletes can choose to try to get a spot on a team other than their own country in well established situations. Do you know how anything works?— Button (@Button) 1644198224
If you lie about qualifying and training for the Olympics your right to any opinion about the Olympics should be revoked.https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2021/1/22/2011194/-Paralympic-athletes-call-bull-on-newly-elected-congressman-s-claims-of-being-an-Olympic-contender\u00a0\u2026— Gabbo (@Gabbo) 1644250326
Show me your Olympic medals. Oh, that\u2019s right you that\u2019s another thing you lied about.https://sports.yahoo.com/how-much-did-rep-madison-cawthorn-exaggerate-his-claims-that-he-was-training-for-the-paralympics-173412524.html\u00a0\u2026— Victoria Lord/Niki Smith (@Victoria Lord/Niki Smith) 1644236894
If you try to overthrow an election, your citizenship should be revoked.— Ben WAPiro (@Ben WAPiro) 1644193385
If you work in DC and used a burner phone on 1/6 to communicate with Donald Trump, your freedom should be revoked.pic.twitter.com/LWFG0tJf1Q— Brown Eyed Susan (@Brown Eyed Susan) 1644196211
What happens when you run for Congress to represent a Nation then decide to be part of a coup against that Nation? Should your citizenship be revoked? Asking for 81 million friends.— OUT OF FUQS QWEEN \ud83d\udcac (@OUT OF FUQS QWEEN \ud83d\udcac) 1644203399
Are you serious right now? Do think those athletes just showed up in China and joined its team? Do you not know how ANYTHING works? Anything? Zhu Yi has been competing for China since 2018, and Gu for three years since she was 15.— Aimee, just Aimee (@Aimee, just Aimee) 1644238210
Following the free skating event, Yi told reporters while wiping her tears:
“I’m upset and a little embarrassed. I guess I felt a lot of pressure because I know everybody in China was pretty surprised with the selection for ladies’ singles and I just really wanted to show them what I was able to do but unfortunately I didn’t.”
She added:
"I am relieved because [there is] a lot of pressure and people are expecting a lot. But right now, I'm just going to move on and focus on my individual events."
Yi is focusing ahead as she prepares to compete in the singles competition, which starts on February 15.
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