President Donald Trump's son, Donald
Trump Jr., went after out athlete Adam Rippon over comments the
Olympian made about Vice President Mike Pence.
The 28-year-old Rippon is one of two
openly gay men on Team USA competing at the Winter Olympics in South
Korea. The other athlete is skier Gus Kenworthy, 26.
Rippon and Kenworthy have criticized
the White House's selection of Pence to lead the 2018 U.S. Olympic
delegation. Pence is opposed to LGBT rights, including marriage
equality.
(Related: Gus
Kenworthy, Adam Rippon to Mike Pence: “Eat your heart out.”)
Speaking at a press conference in
Pyeongchang, Rippon said that he did not want his “Olympic
experience being about Mike Pence.”
“Really?” Trump
Jr. tweeted in response. “Then perhaps you shouldn't have
spent the past few weeks talking about him. I haven't heard him
mention you once???”
Pence, however, has messaged Rippon
directly on Twitter.
“.@Adaripp I want you to know we are
FOR YOU. Don't let fake news distract you,” Pence wrote on
February 8. This is the first time the vice president has personally
denied that the support therapies that attempt to alter the sexual
orientation or gender identity of LGBT people. While
running for Congress, Pence supported the use of federal funding
to treat people “seeking to change their sexual behavior.” He
also supports groups that favor such therapies, such as Focus on the
Family, a vocal opponent of LGBT rights.
(Related: Mike
Pence pledges Trump's “unwavering support” to Focus on the
Family, an anti-LGBT group.)