Remarkable "Trump Curse" Afflicting Olympians Who Trashed the President
Donald Trump seems like an easy target for liberals: He’s larger than life and often bombastic — and that gives his opponents a false sense of confidence in their ability to criticize him and win.
As every other candidate and most of the mainstream media found out during the election, however, Trump is a lot harder to bring down than it seems. There is a growing list of people who have tried desperately to dismiss or insult the president, only to find that he is still standing and they are the ones falling flat on their faces.
It looks like that “Trump curse” is now extending into the winter Olympic Games. Several athletes have gone out of their way to attack the president, but have ended up with dismal records in Pyeongchang. The connection between “dissing” Trump and disappointing the nation at the Olympics is hard to ignore.
“Take American Maddie Bowman. She failed to win a gold medal — or a medal of any color — in the free-ski halfpipe,” The Daily Wire pointed out.
“She won gold at the 2014 Olympics, but she fell on all three runs during the final on Tuesday in Pyeong Chang. In the end, she finished 11th,” continued that outlet.
And Bowman’s criticism of the president? During an interview with Sports Illustrated, the skier deliberately declared that she wouldn’t want to meet Trump, even though she hadn’t been invited to the White House and had not even qualified for the Olympics at that point.
“I probably couldn’t see myself — if I do get the opportunity to go to the Olympics and therefore get the opportunity to go to the White House. I don’t think I could go,” Bowman said.
It’s the same story with Lindsey Vonn, another skier who has apparently decided that the nation depends on her outspoken political opinions. Vonn made headlines when she announced that while at the Olympics, she would represent the “people of the United States, not the president.”
That is how it usually works, Lindsey. That’s what the American flag patch on the uniform means. Nobody was actually under the illusion that U.S. athletes were on personal missions from Donald J. Trump, but thanks for clearing that up.
Vonn also announced that she would “absolutely not” go to the White House if she won a gold medal. “No. But I have to win to be invited,” she added.
She then took a dismal sixth place in the Super-G ski race and finished third in the downhill race.
The trend continues with figure skater Adam Rippon. The openly gay athlete apparently decided that his sexuality made him the arch-nemesis of Donald Trump and Mike Pence, even to the point of spreading lies about the vice president and inventing the controversy out of thin air.
“I have no desire to go to the White House,” Rippon declared. He also added that he wouldn’t even shake hands with Vice President Pence, presumably because of tolerance and love. Liberal hypocrisy is hard.
Rippon seemed obsessed with the vice president, bizarrely declaring, “I don’t want my Olympic experience to be about Mike Pence.”
That strange comment from left field prompted Donald Trump Jr. to humorously call out the skater on Twitter.
“Really? Then perhaps you shouldn’t have spent the past few weeks talking about him,” Don Jr. pointed out. “I haven’t heard him mention you once?”
Really? Then Perhaps you shouldn’t have spent the past few weeks talking about him. I haven’t heard him mention you once??? https://t.co/8lcCsoyBsq
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 14, 2018
It turns out that bashing America’s leaders doesn’t translate into Olympic success. Adam Rippon did not bring home any medal as an individual, but ranked a lowly tenth in the men’s single skating event. He only managed to snag a bronze as part of the overall U.S. ice dance team event.
Of course, it’s a bit of a stretch to say that criticizing Donald Trump and Mike Pence directly led to poor performance at the Olympic games.
However, it is a strong possibility that being distracted by petty politics and showing arrogance before the competition was even finished didn’t do wonders for performance.
Yet again, what some conservative pundits have called “Trump Derangement Syndrome” has reared its ugly head. Opponents of the president have once more tripped over themselves, and failed to learn the lesson of the 2016 election night: You have to actually finish.
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