United States skiing great Lindsey Vonn made it clear she’s no fan of the president. In an interview with CNN, Vonn was asked how it will feel to compete for the United States under President Donald Trump.
After a brief pause, Vonn said, “I hope to represent the people of the United States, not the president.”
Vonn, 33, is about to cap an illustrious Olympic career with her fourth Winter Games coming up in February in Pyeongchang, South Korea. She has competed under two past presidents. She was just the latest American athlete to speak out against the U.S.’s current president.
While in St. Moritz, Switzerland, she said down with the cable news network most attacked by President Donald Trump as being fake news. Vonn spoke passionately about what competing in the Olympics mean to her.
“I take the Olympics very seriously and what they mean and what they represent, what walking under our flag means in the opening ceremony,” Vonn told CNN. “I want to represent our country well. I don’t think that there are a lot of people currently in our government that do that.”
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Vonn, who returned from a devastating knee injury sustained in 2013, will be competing for a second Olympic gold medal in South Korea, as well as attempting to break the record of 86 World Cup victories held by Ingemar Stenmark since 1989.
She has now added her name to a list of American athletes that have spoken out against Trump, who has feuded with the NFL and its players over protests over racial injustice during the national anthem. He’s also lashed out against Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry, who has said he will not visit the White House as a member of the NBA champions.
In the CNN interview, Vonn also took a strong stance against visiting the White House.
“Absolutely not,” said Vonn. “No, but I have to win to be invited. No, actually I think every US team member is invited, so no I won’t go.”
Jeffrey Caplan
