Simone Biles of Team USA reacts after competing on the vault during the Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Qualification on day two of the 2024 Paris Olympics at Bercy Arena in Paris on July 28, 2024.
Jamie Squire | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images
American gymnast Simone Biles appeared to take a swipe at former President Donald Trump on Friday morning, tweeting “I love my black job” after winning her second individual all-around gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
Biles’ post on the social media platform X seemed to reference Trump’s recent controversial comments that immigrants are “taking Black jobs.”
The Republican presidential nominee had said, “They’re taking Black jobs now and it could be 18, it could be 19 and even 20 million people,” during his June 27 debate against President Joe Biden.
“They’re taking Black jobs, and they’re taking Hispanic jobs, and you haven’t seen it yet, but you’re going to see something that’s going to be the worst in our history,” Trump said.
Data does not support Trump’s claim that immigrants are “taking” jobs from American workers.
CNBC has requested comment from Trump’s campaign about Biles’ tweet.
Former U.S. President and 2024 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump answers questions during the National Association of Black Journalists annual convention in Chicago on July 31, 2024.
Kamil Krzaczynski | Afp | Getty Images
Trump was asked on Wednesday to clarify what he meant by “Black jobs” in a Q&A session with three reporters at the National Association of Black Journalists’ annual convention.
“A Black job is anybody that has a job,” he said.
“That’s what it is. Anybody that has — they’re taking the employment away from Black people. They’re coming in, and they’re coming in, they’re invading.”
During the same session, Trump also questioned Vice President Kamala Harris’ race, falsely suggesting that the de facto Democratic presidential nominee has not always presented herself as Black.
Simone Biles poses with the gold medal during the podium ceremony at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games at the Bercy Arena in Paris on July 30, 2024.
Lionel Bonaventure | Afp | Getty Images
“She was always of Indian heritage and she was only promoting Indian heritage,” Trump said. “I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago, when she happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black.”
Harris’ father, who is Black, is from Jamaica. Her late mother was from India. Harris attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., one of the most well-known historically Black universities.
Biles, who is widely seen as the greatest American gymnast of all time, won her second individual all-around gold medal in Paris on Thursday.
With nine Olympic medals, six of them gold, Biles is the most decorated U.S. gymnast in history.
She is also the first American to win the individual gold more than once, and the first Olympic gymnast ever to win two in nonconsecutive Games.
Her success in her third Olympics is the culmination of a three-year-long comeback story.
Biles withdrew from the team final at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021 after struggling with the “twisties,” which occur when a gymnast loses spatial awareness while in the air.
Her withdrawal sparked a national conversation about mental health, but also drew criticism.
“America hates me. The world is going to hate me. I can only see what they’re saying on Twitter right now,” Biles said on a podcast in April, recalling how she felt after the 2021 Games.
One critic of Biles at the time was Sen. JD Vance, the Ohio Republican who is now Trump’s running mate.
Vance, who was running for the Senate in 2021, called Biles’ decision to withdraw her “weakest moment.”
“I think it reflects pretty poorly on our sort of therapeutic society that we try to praise people, not for moments of strength, not for moments of heroism, but for their weakest moments,” Vance said on Fox News that year.
News
The moment that sealed Simone Biles’ Olympic legacy – and it wasn’t another gold medal
An Olympic image to last a lifetime. Yet not one including Simone Biles that most expected, especially the American had only salvaged a silver medal from an otherwise troubling final day of gymnastics at Paris 2024. A silver medal confirmed the end of the…
With a salute and a silver medal, Simone Biles shows the humanity that goes with her greatness
Despite an imperfect day on the beam and the floor, the American has re-established herself as the world’s best As Simone Biles closed out her final transcendent floor routine and acknowledged the judges, she held her arms above her head in a…
Simone Biles is done competing at Paris 2024: “I’ve accomplished way more than in my wildest dreams”
Picture by 2024 Getty Images Suni Lee: ‘I have goals and I have expectations for myself, but I also am trying to give myself grace’ It was the question that lingered ahead of Paris 2024: How would Simone Biles handle the Olympic stage…
VIDE0 Gymnasts That STOLE Simone Biles Olympic Dreams!
Gymnasts That STOLE Simone Biles Olympic Dreams! . . . Here’s a short article based on the title you provided: Gymnasts That STOLE Simone Biles’ Olympic Dreams! The world of gymnastics is no stranger to fierce competition and breathtaking performances,…
JD Vance says Simone Biles shouldn’t be praised for quitting Olympics in poorly aged resurfaced clip
In 2021, JD Vance criticized the media for supporting Simone Biles during her ‘weakest moment’ after withdrawal from Tokyo Olympics An old interview clip featuring JD Vance has resurfaced shortly after Simone Biles made history at the Paris 2024 Olympics, in which the potential vice president…
Russian hackers leak medical files of US athletes including Venus and Serena Williams and Rio star Simone Biles
Hackers claim to have evidence of doping by US Olympians Gymnast Simone Biles, winner of four gold medals at the Rio Olympics, was among those targeted (Getty) For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up…
End of content
No more pages to load