Eileen Gu garners backlash for commenting on Trump's statement while representing China

American-born Team China Olympic skier Eileen Gu came nether immense scrutiny connected societal media this week aft making comments astir President Donald Trump's caller disapproval of U.S. Olympian Hunter Hess.

Gu, who was calved successful San Francisco, is the highest-paid Winter Olympic jock successful the world, making an estimated $23 cardinal successful 2025 unsocial successful partnerships with Chinese companies, including the Bank of China, and occidental companies. Gu has said she represents China for her mother, who was calved there.

Gu has ne'er spoken retired against China's alleged quality rights abuses, including the nation's alleged systematic run of repression against Uyghurs and different predominantly Muslim taste minorities successful the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. 

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Gold medalist Eileen Gu of China celebrates during the medal ceremonial for the women's freestyle skiing large aerial astatine the 2022 Winter Olympics Feb. 8, 2022, successful Beijing. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

However, Gu has commented connected Trump's disapproval of Hess for expressing "mixed emotions" astir representing the U.S. successful Milan Cortina. 

"I’m atrocious that the header that is eclipsing the Olympics has to beryllium thing truthful unrelated to the tone of the Games. It truly runs contrary to everything the Olympics should be," Gu told reporters Monday.

"The full constituent of athletics is to bring radical together. … One of the precise fewer communal languages, that of the quality body, that of the quality spirit, the competitory spirit, the capableness to interruption not lone records, but particularly successful our sport, virtually the quality limit. How fantastic is that?"

Gu besides claimed she had been "caught successful the crossfire" herself. 

"As idiosyncratic who has got caught successful the crossfire before, I consciousness atrocious for the athletes," Gu said. "I anticipation that they tin skis to their precise best."

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Eileen Gu celebrates winning the golden medal aft competing successful the Freestyle Skiing Women's Halfpipe Final during the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games astatine Genting Snow Park. (Danielle Parhizkaran/USA Today Sports)

Gu's comments person incited backlash connected societal media, with galore critics pointing retired that Gu has ne'er spoken retired against China for its alleged quality rights violations. 

Former NBA subordinate Enes Kanter Freedom blasted Gu successful a lengthy X post, calling her a "traitor."

"Eileen Gu is simply a traitor. She was calved successful America, raised successful America, lives successful America, and chose to vie against her ain state for the worst quality rights abuser connected the planet, China. She built her fame successful a escaped country, past chose to correspond an authoritarian authorities portion cashing successful connected endorsements linked by watchdog groups to wide detention and forced labour camps. When quality rights travel up, she disappears," Kanter wrote. 

"That’s not neutrality. That’s a choice. She chose to play for a state liable for the deaths of tens of millions of its ain radical and that is moving attraction camps close now, alternatively of the state wherever she was calved and fixed opportunity."

Hudson Institute elder chap Michael Sobolik besides pointed retired Gu's soundlessness connected China's alleged persecution of Uyghurs and the governmental imprisonment of individuals who reason Xi Jinping. 

"Listen, it’s good for athletes to knock the U.S. president. It besides isn’t that absorbing due to the fact that it happens each the time. What’s absorbing astir this communicative … is that Eileen Gu is an American skier competing for China. No notation astir whether the CCP’s genocide of Uyghurs ‘runs contrary to everything the Olympics should be.’ No disapproval of Xi Jinping for the imprisonment of Jimmy Lai, Pastor Ezra Jin, Gulshan Abbas, oregon China’s galore different governmental prisoners," Sobolik wrote connected X. 

"If you knock America but won’t accidental a connection astir the CCP, that says a batch astir you. If you’re an American jock that leverages the state this state has fixed you to correspond an authoritarian regime, that says adjacent more."

Republican communications specializer Matt Whitlock echoed akin disapproval of Gu successful an X post.

"Can't ideate a worse dependable connected this taxable than an jock who threw distant her American citizenship for Chinese Communist Party endorsement deals. Does Eileen Gu person immoderate disapproval for Xi Jinping for genocide, slavery, and arresting dissenters?" Whitlock wrote. 

Several different X users spoke retired against Gu. 

Trump has been 1 of the astir discussed figures astatine this year's Winter Olympics, and respective athletes person made suggestive criticisms of his handling of the U.S., including Hess. 

Trump made a scathing station connected societal media, calling Hess a "real loser."

"U.S. Olympic Skier, Hunter Hess, a existent Loser, says helium doesn’t correspond his Country successful the existent Winter Olympics," helium wrote.

"If that’s the case, helium shouldn’t person tried retired for the Team, and it’s excessively atrocious he’s connected it. Very hard to basal for idiosyncratic similar this. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"

Hess primitively said of representing the U.S., "It brings up mixed emotions to correspond the U.S. close now, I think. It’s a small hard. There’s evidently a batch going connected that I’m not the biggest instrumentality of, and I deliberation a batch of radical aren’t.

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China's Eileen Gu reacts astatine the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics successful Italy. Monday, Feb. 9, 2026.  (David Davies/PA Images via Getty Images)

"I think, for me, it’s much I’m representing my friends and household backmost home, the radical that represented it earlier me, each the things that I judge are bully astir the U.S. If it aligns with my motivation values, I consciousness similar I’m representing it. Just due to the fact that I’m wearing the emblem doesn't mean I correspond everything that’s going connected successful the U.S.

"I conscionable benignant of privation to bash it for my friends and my household and the radical that enactment maine getting here."

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