Donald Trump Jr. Attacks Gay Olympian Adam Rippon On Twitter, Jumps Into The Reported Pence-Rippon Feud
Donald Trump, Jr. attacked openly gay Olympian Adam Rippon on Twitter on Tuesday night, jumping into a month-old supposed feud between the two men that Adam wishes everyone would stop talking about, HuffPost is reporting.
For about a month, the media has been reporting on a supposed feud between Mike Pence and Adam Rippon. It all started in January, when Rippon, who is the first openly gay male athlete to qualify for a U.S. Olympics squad, was asked by a USA Today reporter what he thought about Vice President Mike Pence leading the 2018 U.S. Olympic delegation to South Korea. As the Indianapolis Star explains, Rippon didn’t mince his words.
“You mean Mike Pence, the same Mike Pence that funded gay conversion therapy? I’m not buying it.”
Rippon then said that he would skip meeting with the vice president during the traditional pre-Olympics meet-and-greet.
“To stand by some of the things that Donald Trump has said and for Mike Pence to say he’s a devout Christian man is completely contradictory.”
The two men continued to exchange words, via tweets, interviews, and statements from their spokespeople, with several reports claiming that Pence was so bothered by Rippon’s words that he reached out to Rippon to meet with him — an offer Rippon declined.
Adam Rippon, Olympic Medalist sounds v cute??????????? Couldn’t have done this without my incredible teammates ?? pic.twitter.com/7WTlwk65zp
— Adam Rippon (@Adaripp) February 13, 2018
Now that the Olympics are fully underway and Adam is out there winning medals (so far, his team has won a Bronze), he’d like to put the supposed feud in the rear-view mirror. As HuffPost reports, Rippon has reportedly said that he doesn’t want his Olympics experience to be defined by Mike Pence. And in a tweet that the Post describes as an “unprovoked attack,” the younger Trump had this to say.
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
However, what Trump Jr. seemed to have forgotten is that Pence has mentioned Rippon by name, as recently as a week ago.
.@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
Several Twitter users were quick to remind the president’s son of his gaffe.
Hey, Don…It’s really not like you to get your facts wrong…What would your father say about you spreading FAKE NEWS? SAD! pic.twitter.com/yngPsDhTFj
— Eoin O’Callaghan (@EoinOCallaghan) February 14, 2018
Others took Trump Jr. to task for throwing shade at an Olympic athlete.
Wow! Publically attacking an Olympic athlete!!! How American is that!?!
— Lara???????? (@DPWIMM) February 14, 2018
As of this writing, neither Trump Jr. nor Pence has responded to the dust-up. Rippon, for his part, is trying to put the controversy behind him and is focusing on the games. He will next compete on February 15, according to Elite Daily.
