JD Vance’s past controversial comments resurface amid Simone Biles’ Paris Olympic triumph.
As Simone Biles basks in the glory of her recent gold win at the Paris Olympics, an old clip of JD Vance criticising her Tokyo exit has resurfaced, stirring controversy. Trump’s VP pick, who remains in the headlines due to his multiple past comments, harshly rebuked Biles at the time for stepping back from the 2021 Games—a decision widely praised for its emphasis on mental health.
On July 31st, the 27-year-old won her 8th Olympic gold medal. The gymnast broke the record for the most awards in American gymnastics history after the women’s US gymnastics team won gold in the all-around finals, but back in 2021, it was a totally different story.
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JD Vance’s ‘weird’ remark on Simone Biles resurfaces
Yet another round of ill-timed comments from the Ohio senator has surfaced, this time aimed at the decorated star of U.S. gymnastics who is soaking in a deluge of praise and congratulatory messages from around the world. The 2024 win marks her triumphant return to the Olympics after her dramatic withdrawal from the Tokyo 2021 Games due to mental health challenges.
In 2021, after Simone Biles announced her withdrawal, Vance expressed his bewilderment at how the media and public were portraying her decision to leave the Olympic team as an act of heroism rather than a tragic moment. “It’s understandable that she was going through an incredible amount of pressure,” the Ohio senator at the time told Fox News in an interview. “What I find so weird about this – and it reflects on the media more than it does on Simone Biles – is that we’ve tried to turn a very tragic moment, Simone Biles quitting the Olympic team, into this act of heroism,” he added.
What Vance said about Simone Biles’ ‘weakest moments’
After leaving the 2021 Olympics due to mental health issues, Biles later explained that she was actually dealing with “the twisties.” This serious condition left her disoriented and unable to sense her position in the air, which can be very challenging for gymnasts.
However, the senator turned Trump’s vice-presidential pick at the time, argued that it reflects poorly on their therapeutic culture. He suggested that instead of praising people for their strength and heroic moments, we are instead celebrating their weakest moments.
“Being an athlete at that level is incredibly tough,” he accepted. “A normal response at this moment would be to say, ‘It’s just a shame that she’s going through this. It’s a shame that she quit,’ but instead, what our press has done, I think, is turn this into this weird therapeutic moment. ‘Let’s praise her for doing this.’ And I think that’s really where the problem herein lies,” the Hillbilly Elegy author added.
This isn’t the first time Vance has faced backlash for his past remarks. Previously, the 39-year-old Republican sparked outrage after a 2021 resurfaced clip showed him referring to Vice President Kamala Harris as a “childless cat lady.”
