President Donald Trump called U.S. Olympic skier Hunter Hess \u201ca real loser\u201d Sunday after Hess said he had \u201cmixed emotions\u201d about representing the United States in this year’s Games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump said Sunday on Truth Social that if Hess doesn\u2019t want to represent the U.S. at the Winter Olympics, \u201che shouldn\u2019t have tried out for the Team, and it\u2019s too bad he\u2019s on it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cVery hard to root for someone like this,\u201d Trump added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hess \u2014 who is competing in freestyle skiing \u2014 was asked at a news conference Friday how it feels to be representing the U.S. with “things going on back home.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It brings up mixed emotions to represent the U.S. right now, I think. It’s a little hard,” he said. \u201cThere\u2019s obviously a lot going on that I\u2019m not the biggest fan of and I think a lot of people aren’t.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He continued: \u201cI think for me, it\u2019s more I\u2019m 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. I just think if it aligns with my moral values, I feel like I\u2019m representing it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJust because I\u2019m wearing the flag doesn\u2019t mean I represent everything that\u2019s going on in the U.S.,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NBC News reached out to a representative for Hess for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Trump administration has faced backlash both globally and at home for its immigration enforcement efforts and its handling of protests in Minnesota, where federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hess was not the only American athlete to comment on the political situation back home. His teammate Chris Lillis said at the same media event Friday that he felt “heartbroken about what’s happened in the United States.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’m pretty sure you’re referencing ICE and some of the protests and things like that,” he told a reporter at the news conference. “I think that as a country, we need to focus on respecting everybody’s rights and making sure that we’re treating our citizens as well as anybody with love and respect, and I hope that when people look at athletes competing in the Olympics, they realize that that’s the America that we’re trying to represent.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n