Out figure skater Adam Rippon, the
U.S.'s first openly gay man to qualify for the Winter Olympics, said
in a recent interview that he would not feel welcome if invited to the
White House.
The 28-year-old Rippon made his
comments in an interview with the BBC.
“I won't go to the White House. And
I won't go because I don't think somebody like me would be welcome
there,” Rippon said. “I know what it's like to go into a room
and feel like you're not wanted there.”
Rippon explained that his mother would
not accept the language President Donald Trump uses.
“If I talked to people the way that
President Trump talks to people, my mom would kick my ass,” he
said.
Rippon added that he has a duty as an
athlete to be a role model.
“I think it's important that we stand
up for what we believe in and we speak out against things that we
think are wrong and unjust,” he said.
(Related: Gus
Kenworthy says he'll refuse Trump White House invite: “No interest
in faking support.”)