“Raging hypocrite” and “real Loser” are some of the scathing comments that have followed Hunter Hess — competitive freeskier and Bend, Oregon native — after he commented on representing Team USA in the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. Both conservative and liberal news outlets have headlined the ordeal, with some condemning it and others praising it.
But what did he really say?
Hess, when asked about representing his country at a Milan press conference, explained how he had “mixed emotions” about wearing the American flag. He mentioned how “it’s a little hard, [because] there’s obviously a lot going on [in America] that I am not the biggest fan of and I think a lot of people aren’t.”
His voice is monotone and his diction is vague, leading to a mini speech that seems minimally barbed. He never mentions any specific events or people that make it “a little hard” to support America, despite there being numerous fateful incidents caused by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). And he certainly doesn’t shake the earth when he says he is “not the biggest fan of” what most would argue is a terribly torn country.
He goes on to describe how he is focusing on representing his “friends and family back home” and clarifies that “if it aligns with [his] moral values [he] feels like [he’s] representing it.”
In total, his comments were only approximately 30 seconds long, filled with “ums” and “uhs,” and overall, devoid of any real substance. And yet the press he received was immense.
President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that Hess was a “real Loser” who “shouldn’t have tried out for the Team, and it’s too bad he’s on it.”
Mike Eruzione, the former captain of Team USA’s men’s hockey team also responded to Hess, saying “some athletes just don’t get it.”
Hess’s true words fail to live up to the drama and instead only illuminate multiple shortcomings.
First, his comments were extremely general and inexplicit, a far cry from pointing fingers or making accusations. Unlike his teammate Chris Lillis, another Olympic skier who described feeling “heartbroken” about ICE’s presence in America, Hess could only drum up some “mixed emotions.”
Second, while it’s likely he truly believed in what he said, his conviction was mitigated by his faulty speech and vanilla words. His statement lacked heart and passion, and it seemed he was somewhat unaware of what the point of his message really was.
The press did an impressive job splicing sound bites together and generating fiery headlines to draw attention to his words. But in reality, his comments were relatively detached. Kudos to him for attempting some political commentary, but he definitely would have made a stronger statement if he had matched the attitude of Gus Kenworthy — Great Britain’s Olympic skier — who wrote “F*CK ICE” with urine in the snow and posted it to social media.
