Three-time Olympian Lolo Jones said Monday on Fox News Channel’s “America Reports” that Olympic protests were an unwelcome distraction to “many.”
Co-host Sandra Smith said, “So there is COVID, and then there is a lot of the controversies. People wonder whether people are tuning this out because of the politicization of it. So many of these controversies, the hammer thrower Gwen Berry turning their back to the American flag while on the podium when the “the star-spangled banner” is singing. Some of these soccer players on the women’s team allegedly turning their back to a World War II veteran. What do you think when you see these things happening and that sort of dominating the headlines?”
Jones said, “I don’t know the percentage of people that would be tuning out because those protests, but I would say there has to be a percentage of people that are doing that. I had so many people coming up to me after the Gwen Berry protests and saying, ‘I’m sorry I can’t watch the Olympics after that.’ And so it’s not just that, I think sometimes people want to tune in to watch sports just to watch sports, and they are not for the political side of it.”
She added, “But then on the athlete’s side, the athletes are like, ‘this is the biggest platform I’ve ever had, and I want to speak my causes.’ So there is like this delicate balance, where you know it’s ratings, it’s social justice.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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