As several Olympians have made headlines in the past week for statements critical of the Trump administration's policies, particularly amid the ongoing nationwide immigration crackdown, JD Vance criticized those Olympians who, as he put it, "pop off about politics."
For instance, freeskier Chloe Kim, the daughter of South Korean immigrants, who has previously addressed how racism has impacted her career, said "it is really important for us to unite and kind of stand up for one another for all that’s going on." Figure skater Amber Glenn also described the current climate in the U.S. as especially difficult for herself and others in the LGBTQ+ community.
Similarly, Richard Ruohonen, a curler from Brooklyn Park, Minnesota—just north of Minneapolis, where protests against ICE have continued for weeks—drew from his decades of legal experience, saying, "what's happening in Minnesota is wrong" while stressing the value of freedom of speech and of the press.
When asked about criticism from Olympic athletes, Vance had this to say:
"Yes, you're going to have some Olympic athletes who pop off about politics. I think that happens every Olympics. My advice to them would be to bring the country together and when you're representing the country you're representing Democrats and Republicans."
"You're there to play a sport and represent your country and hopefully win a medal. You're not there to pop off about politics. When Olympic athletes enter the political arena they should accept some pushback."
"But most Olympic athletes are doing a great job, are certainly enjoying the support of the entire country, and I think recognize that the way to bring the country together is not to show up in a foreign country and attack the president of the United States but is to play your support and represent your country well."
You can hear what he said in the video below.
Vance's words about unifying the country ring hollow when you consider he has refused to apologize to the family of Alex Pretti—the ICU nurse killed by ICE agents last month—after sharing White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller's post claiming Pretti was an "assassin."
He also previously referred to Renee Nicole Good, who was killed just weeks before Pretti, as a "deranged leftist" and later took to X to shift blame away from federal agents and toward local authorities and protesters.
Vance also clearly doesn't hold Trump to the same standard he expects of Olympians—and has advised Democrats to "tone down the rhetoric."
People were not buying his schtick.
Vance himself was booed at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Milan.
Boos could be heard when he and his wife, Second Lady Usha Vance, appeared on a giant screen waving U.S. flags; the news appeared to surprise Trump, who claimed—wrongly—that Vance "doesn’t get booed in this country.”
Both men might want to look in the mirror before "popping off" on politics themselves.
