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As fans cheer on Simone Biles’ history-making performances in the 2024 Paris Olympics, comments about Biles made by then-Senator JD Vance in 2021 have resurfaced on X.
Vance, former President Trump’s 2024 running mate, called it “weird” that people applauded Biles’ withdrawal from competition in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after she suffered from the “the twisties,” a dangerous condition where a gymnast mentally loses spatial awareness of their body while performing high-level skills.
“I think, obviously, it’s understandable that she was going through an incredible amount of pressure,” Vance said during a Fox News appearance in 2021.
“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 said. “And 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.”
“A normal response in this moment would be to say, ‘It’s just a shame that she’s going through this. It’s a shame that she quit,'” Vance continued. “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.”
Biles, the most decorated U.S. gymnast in history, won her record sixth Olympic gold medal compete in the Women’s Individual All-Around competition on August 1 after winning the gold with Team USA on July 30.
Fans Strongly Defended Simone Biles Against JD Vance’s Previous Comments
Users online slammed Vance’s comments about the greatest gymnast of all time. One man posted, “JD Vance throws shame on Simone Biles for prioritizing her mental health. Shame on you JD Vance.”
Another person commented, “I know he said it four years ago, but Vance should have to wear this statement forever. Never let this weirdo convince you that lifting people up when they’re at a low point is a bad thing. Oh, and congrats to Simone Biles on the 2024 gold 🥇.”
One woman wrote, “Throw back to JD Vance saying that Simone Biles quitting the Olympic Team in 2020 to take care of herself was a moment of weakness. Meanwhile she’s the GOAT and he’s just a weird guy best known for couch memes.”
Numerous fans pointed out that Vance didn’t seem to understand the extremely hazardous state Biles was in when she withdrew from the competition. One person posted, “Simone Biles pulled herself out in Tokyo because her case of the twisties put herself in danger physically and would have been a detriment to the team vs an alternate not facing that issue. Also, JD Vance is an [expletive].”
Simone Biles Said of Her Comeback to Gymnastics: ‘It’s Truly for Myself’
Biles spoke about the shame she felt after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in “Simone Biles: Rising” and the hateful comments she read about herself online. However, with weekly therapy sessions and a strong feeling in her soul that she wasn’t done with gymnastics, the 27-year-old embarked on her redemption journey.
“This time, coming back, it’s truly for myself,” Biles said in the show. “But it’s also, I never want to look back in 10 years and say, ‘Oh, what if I could’ve done another Olympic cycle or at least tried?’ Because so much has happened in this sport so much has scared the living [expletive] out of me, that I couldn’t have it take that one last thing from me.”
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