President Barack Obama confused the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics with the Summer Olympics on Tuesday when he cited swimming, gymnastics, and track as events in the upcoming Winter Games in Russia during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Obama addressed the laws against homosexuality that have been passed in Russia and said he had “no patience for countries that try to treat gays or lesbians or transgender persons in ways that intimidate them or are harmful to them.”
When Leno asked if such laws would impact the upcoming Winter Olympics, Obama said he felt Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia “have a big stake in making sure the Olympics work, and I think they understand that for most of the countries that participate in the Olympics, we won’t tolerate gays and lesbians being treated differently.”
“They’re athletes, they’re there to compete,” Obama said. “And if Russia wants to uphold the Olympic spirit, then every judgment should be made on the track, or in the swimming pool, or on the balance beam, and people’s sexual orientation shouldn’t have anything to do with it.”
The Winter Olympics, it goes without saying, will not have events on the track, in the swimming pool, or on the balance beam.
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