There was once a time when watching the Olympics was fun. I watched both the Summer and Winter Olympics several times as a kid, and it was quite an experience to watch world-class athletes compete against each other while rooting for Team USA. It was a true moment of competition, sportsmanship, and national unity. Not anymore. Today, it just feels as if the Olympics have become a soapbox for players to make political statements, and I have no interest in that.
Several American athletes have already gone viral for publicly criticizing the United States while representing the country at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, while Democrats and media outlets have praised their remarks. American freestyle skier Hunter Hess said representing his home country conjured "mixed emotions," because there's "a lot going on" that he's "not the biggest fan of.”
"If it aligns with my moral values, I feel like I'm representing it. Just because I wear the flag doesn't mean I represent everything that's going on in the U.S."
“It brings up mixed emotions to represent the U.S. right now… Just because I wear the flag doesn't mean I represent everything that's going on in the U.S.”
— Jon Root (@JonnyRoot_) February 7, 2026
- Team USA Olympic Skier Hunter Hess
The anti-ICE, liberal athletes are already insufferable at the Olympics…
If… pic.twitter.com/yn7ruEHbFr
American skier Chris Lillis said he was "heartbroken" about immigration enforcement.
“I think that, as a country, we need to focus on respecting everybody's rights and treating our citizens, as well as everybody, with love and respect. I hope that, when people look at athletes competing in the Olympics, they realize that's the America we're trying to represent."
DISGUSTING: Team USA Olympic Freestyle Skier Hunter Hess: “It brings up mixed emotions to represent the U.S. right now… 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.”
— RedWave Press (@RedWave_Press) February 7, 2026
“Just because I wear the flag… pic.twitter.com/IliHp2UNr2
But let’s not pretend this is just a simple anti-Trump thing. It doesn’t matter which party is in power; American athletes have, for some time now, felt compelled to demonstrate anti-American sentiment on the world stage. Just look at the COVID-delayed 2020 Olympics that took place in 2021, when Biden was president. We saw similar displays of politicization during those games as well. The U.S. women's soccer team was notorious for its political statements and kneeling during the national anthem.
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It doesn’t matter who the president is. The problem is that too many of the athletes sent to represent the United States seem to have been conditioned to resent the very country whose flag they wear. They show little pride in America, and appear far more concerned with earning approval on the global stage than honoring the nation that gave them the opportunity to compete.
I want the Olympics to feel worth watching again. Instead, politics and grandstanding have made them easy to ignore. The Games used to unite the country. Now they often do the opposite. These athletes are supposed to represent the best of America, yet many use the spotlight to run it down in front of the world.
When you’re wearing the red, white, and blue, your role is clear. You are there to represent your country, not your personal grievances. If someone can’t put that aside for two weeks, he or she has no business being there.
I won’t cheer for athletes who openly despise the country they represent, and plenty of Americans feel the same way. What was once a unifying national moment has turned into just another political circus, and that’s a real loss.
