Taking his one-sided feud with the Trump administration to yet another level, gay Olympic skater Adam Rippon is now saying that he would refuse any invitations to visit the Trump White House.
Though, while saying he wouldn’t visit 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the Olympic skater says that he would instead like to something to support his community.
“No, I have no desire to go to the White House,” Rippon told the Daily Mail. “But I would like to do something to help my community,” he added.
The skater insisted that he would do “something positive and not just stay at home” as part of his boycott.
Rippon the said, “I have a great story. I want people to get to know me.”
Rippon helped Team USA bring home a Bronze medal in this year’s Winter Olympics at PyeongChang, South Korea, but he has placed himself at the center of constant controversy over his feelings about the Trump administration.
As the games opened, Rippon was heard loudly attacking Vice President Mike Pence who headed the U.S. delegation to the games. The Olympian called the vice president into question based on Rippon’s false assumption that Pence supported anti-gay policies — particularly a policy called “gay conversion therapy” — when he was governor of Indiana.
Despite the VP’s conciliatory replies to Rippon and his assurances that he supports all U.S. Olympians equally, Rippon continued attacking Pence throughout his time in South Korea.
In another widely reported incident, Rippon teamed with fellow gay athlete Gus Kenworthy and began posting photos to social media with a pointed message to Pence reading, “eat your heart out, Pence.”
Rippon also very publicly refused to visit with Pence after the vice president’s staff reached out to arrange a private meeting.
Even after his repeated attacks, ubiquitous anti-Trump statements, and ongoing screeds, Rippon then complained that Pence and Trump were “distracting” the Olympics team from their sport.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.