The US Winter Olympics team is too gay to win medals, says Fox News’ executive editor
(Getty)
Fox News’ executive editor has said that the US Winter Olympics team is too gay to win medals.
John Moody, who is also Fox News’ executive vice president, said that “unless it’s changed overnight, the motto of the Olympics, since 1894, has been ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger.’
“It appears the U.S. Olympic Committee would like to change that to ‘Darker, Gayer, Different.’
John Moody (Getty)
“If your goal is to win medals,” he added, “that won’t work.”
Two gay US Olympians have hit out at Vice President Mike Pence ahead of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games starting today.
Freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy, who has been at the forefront of the US’s publicity campaign, said Pence’s presence would send a negative message.
Gus Kenworthy (Getty)
Speaking on The Ellen Show this week, Kenworthy called the Vice President a “bad fit” to lead the delegation.
And after gay figure skater Adam Rippon challenged the Vice President’s concerning stances on LGBT equality last month, Pence tweeted suggesting that the athlete had misled the public, and that his anti-gay record was “fake news”.
As Moody’s proposed new motto suggests, his Fox News editorial also focuses on the colour of US athletes’ skin.
Adam Rippon (Getty)
The headline announces this by stating: “In Olympics, let’s focus on the winner of the race – not the race of the winner”.
Moody berates Jason Thompson, the US Olympic Committee’s director of diversity and inclusion, who this week praised the diverse nature of US athletes travelling to PyeongChang.
“We’re not quite where we want to be… I think full-on inclusion has always been a priority of Team USA,” he said.
Mike Pence at the Olympics (Getty)
“I think everybody’s always felt it should represent every American.”
Moody has taken issue with this statement.
“A USOC official was quoted this week expressing pride (what else?) about taking the most diverse U.S. squad ever to the Winter Olympics,” he writes.
“That was followed by a, frankly, embarrassing laundry list of how many African-Americans, Asians and openly gay athletes are on this year’s U.S. team.
Team USA at today’s opening ceremony (Getty)
“No sport that we are aware of awards points – or medals – for skin color or sexual orientation,” Moody continues.
He then bravely fights through his discomfort to wonder whether the 244 elite athletes on Team USA were chosen for the Games because of their skill, or their sexual orientation and race.
“So, while uncomfortable, the question probably needs to be asked: were our Olympians selected because they’re the best at what they do, or because they’re the best publicity for our current obsession with having one each from Column A, B and C?” Moody writes.
He adds: “Insisting that sports bow to political correctness by assigning teams quotas for race, religion or sexuality is like saying that professional basketball goals will be worth four points if achieved by a minority in that sport – white guys, for instance – instead of the two or three points awarded to black players, who make up 81 percent of the NBA.
The opening ceremony (Getty)
“Any plans to fix that disparity? Didn’t think so.”
There is no quota for US athletes competing in the Games.
He concludes by saying: “Sorry. ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger’ still works better than ‘We win because we’re different.'”
Moody is seemingly unaware of the US’s motto, “E pluribus unum,” which means: “Out of many, one”.
Update:
A Fox News spokesperson said: “John Moody’s column does not reflect the views or values of FOX News and has been removed.”
