Representative Byron Donalds (R-FL) took to social media this week to lecture an Olympic athlete about patriotism, declaring that if representing the United States is “too hard,” the athlete should simply “go home.” It was the kind of chest-thumping, performative outrage that has become routine in today’s MAGA/Republican Party—loud and utterly detached from any sense of consistency.
Donalds’ post on X came in response to freestyle skier Hunter Hess, who expressed his concerns about the state of the country under the current administration. “It brings up mixed emotions to represent the U.S. right now,” Hess stated. “It’s a little hard. There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of and I think a lot of people aren’t.”
It was a rather innocuous statement void of partisan politics, yet it was enough to rile up the MAGA horde, including the president himself, who took it upon himself to launch a vicious rant on Truth Social calling the Olympian a “real loser.”
Donalds, A Black American, Remains Silent Over Trump’s Racist Video
Donalds framed his post as a defense of the flag, the country, and the idea that some things are “bigger than politics.” But his sudden concern for decorum and national pride rings hollow when placed alongside his conspicuous silence on one of the most offensive political moments of the week: President Donald Trump’s now-deleted Truth Social post sharing a video that depicted former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as monkeys.
If respect for the country and its symbols truly mattered to Donalds, it’s hard to imagine a clearer violation than a racist caricature of the nation’s first Black president and first lady. Yet when that incident erupted, Donalds—a Black American himself—had nothing to say. Crickets.
Instead, he chose to target an athlete for expressing a personal opinion.
That contrast is telling. It suggests that, for Donalds, patriotism isn’t about defending American values across the board; it’s about enforcing loyalty tests on the people he disagrees with, while ignoring behavior from political allies that plainly contradicts the principles he claims to care about.
Athletes, like all Americans, have the right to speak their minds. The First Amendment doesn’t disappear when an athlete puts on a uniform to represent the country. Telling an athlete to “go home” for expressing an opinion isn’t a defense of patriotism—it’s an attempt to police speech. And it’s especially ironic coming from a Black lawmaker who stayed silent when the sitting president of the United States shared a racist depiction of the Obamas to millions of followers.
If some things are truly “bigger than politics,” then decency and respect for the office of the presidency should be at the top of the list. Donalds had a chance to show at least a modicum of that principle in action. Instead, he chose selective outrage—scolding an athlete for speaking out against the current administration, while ignoring a racist attack from his side of the aisle.
