"It brings up mixed emotions to represent the U.S. right now, I think. 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. I think for me it's more I'm representing my, like, friends and family back home. The people that represented it before me. All the things that I believe are good about the U.S."
"Some of them have skated around those topics, while a few more daring ones have publicly condemned the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. But strangely, the biggest political controversy from these Games hasn't involved the queer Texan figure skater who bemoaned Donald Trump's threat to the human rights of LGBTQ+ Americans or the British American snowboarder who snapped a photo of the words Fuck ICE written in the snow with, he suggested, his own urine stream."
US Olympic athletes have been asked to respond to questions about the Trump administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement while competing on the global stage. Some athletes avoided direct political commentary, while others publicly condemned an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. The most notable controversy involved Hunter Hess, a 27-year-old freestyle halfpipe skier from Oregon with no prior activist profile. Hess said representing the United States brings mixed emotions, emphasized representing friends, family, and values rather than all national policies, and noted that wearing the flag does not mean endorsing every action taking place in the country.
Read at Slate Magazine
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