“Broke my thumb yesterday in practice,” Kenworthy tweeted, along with an x-ray of his thumb. “It won’t stop me from competing (obvi) but it does prevent me from shaking Pence’s hand so… Silver linings! Will be giving my teammates (and literally everyone else) an enthusiastic ‘thumbs up!’ of encouragement the rest of the trip.”
Twitter/@GusKenworthyU.S. Winter Olympian Gus Kenworthy tweeted this photo of his broken thumb on Feb. 15, 2018.
Twitter/@GusKenworthyU.S. Winter Olympian Gus Kenworthy tweeted this photo of an x-ray of his broken thumb on Feb. 15, 2018.
A Twitter user blasted Kenworthy, tweeting at him, “Your obsession with Pence is creepy.”
But Kenworthy, unlike fellow openly gay U.S. Olympian Adam Rippon, hasn’t publicly criticized Pence too much.
“This was literally my first tweet ever that mentioned him,” Kenworthy shot back. “You’ve tweeted more about me than I have about him. Soooo actually it looks like YOU’RE the one who is obsessed with ME! And while I’m flattered I’m really just not interested. K thx bye!”
Instgram/guskenworthyU.S. Winter Olympian Gus Kenworthy (left) posted this photo of himself with fellow openly gay Olympian Adam Rippon in South Korea on Feb. 9, 2018.
While Kenworthy, 26, may not have previously taken to Twitter to express disdain for Pence, he did tell Ellen DeGeneres during an appearance earlier this month on her show, “To have someone leading the delegation that’s directly attacked the LGBT community … it just seems like a bad fit. I feel like the Olympics is all about inclusion and people coming together, and it seems like it’s not really doing that.
And during an interview with USA Today last month, Rippon said of Pence’s involvement with the Olympics, “You mean Mike Pence, the same Mike Pence that funded gay conversion therapy?” Rippon said. “I’m not buying it.”
AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, PoolVice President Mike Pence, right, walks to his seat alongside second lady Karen Pence at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Friday, Feb. 9, 2018.
Kenworthy and Rippon’s distaste of the vice president stems over the former Indiana governor’s record on same sex marriage, LGBT rights in the workplace, and the widespread notion that he once supported so-called gay conversion therapy.
In a 2000 statement on his congressional campaign website, Pence said, “Resources should be directed toward those institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior.” During the 2016 election campaign, however, Pence’s spokesman said he does not support the concept.
Kenworthy and Rippon are the first openly gay U.S. Winter Olympians to compete in the games.
Sourse: abcnews.go.com
