Donald Trump Jr. rips Adam Rippon over Mike Pence drama
Adam Rippon made headlines before the Olympics by criticizing the selection of vice president Mike Pence as the U.S. delegation leader and stating he wouldn’t visit the White House after the games.
Since winning the bronze medal in team figure skating and becoming America’s early darling of the games, Rippon has tried to distance himself from the early narrative. He’s said he’s open to meeting with the vice president when he returns home, but wants to curb the political talk for now.
“I don’t want my Olympic experience being about Mike Pence,” Rippon said to reporters on Tuesday. “I have no problem about what I’ve said because I stand by it, but I think right now the Olympics are about Olympic competition.”
Those comments from Rippon again made headlines because, well, this is 2018 and anything involving the Trump administration tends to make news.
And at least one member of the Trump family took notice:
Really? Then Perhaps you shouldn’t have spent the past few weeks talking about him. I haven’t heard him mention you once??? https://t.co/8lcCsoyBsq
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 14, 2018
Don Jr. is actually right with the first part of that tweet. Any public figure wishing to stay clear of political stories should never become involved with one in the first place because, again, this is 2018 and the news media is going to bleed any storyline for all it’s worth.
As for the second part about Pence not mentioning Rippon once?
Well …
.@Adaripp I want you to know we are FOR YOU. Don’t let fake news distract you. I am proud of you and ALL OF OUR GREAT athletes and my only hope for you and all of #TeamUSA is to bring home the gold. Go get ‘em!
— Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) February 8, 2018
Yes, that’s a Pence tweet that actually @ing Rippon’s account. And, again, the vice president’s staff has reached out to Rippon to see about a meeting between the two camps.
Considering Rippon’s new stance and Pence being back home in America, it seems unlikely that either of the two principal players will push this story any further over the next week and a half.
Whether or not an outside party keeps it going by picking up a phone to tweet remains to be seen.
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