2018 Winter Olympian and Turning Point USA contributor Anthony Watson blasted sports podcaster Sarah Spain's remarks about Vice President JD Vance, telling Newsmax on Monday that the Olympics should remain a refuge from the vitriol of politics.
Appearing on Newsmax's "National Report," Watson reacted after Spain said on her podcast that seeing Vance at the Winter Games made her "literally feel ill" and compared the vice president to "a demon."
"Surprised? No," Watson said when asked about the issue. "I mean, I don't really like things like that because this is the one thing that I will tell people about the Olympic Games: When the Olympics are on — Summer Games or Winter Games — when you look at it from a ... bird's-eye view from outside of the actual Games itself, the world for the two weeks that the Games are on, when the torch is lit, is at peace because every single person in the world is cheering for their country that's being represented out there, and everyone's watching and engaging in the sport."
Watson, who competed in the skeleton bobsled for Jamaica, said the unifying power of athletics is what makes such rhetoric misplaced.
"That's the beauty of sports," he said. "The beauty of sports was that it was supposed to take you out of politics."
Drawing on his Olympic experience, Watson pointed to a moment from the 2018 Winter Games when then-Vice President Mike Pence attended while the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was also present.
"They were sitting about 5 feet apart and they didn't look at each other," he said. "And so, everyone was now trying to make a whole big spew of like, 'Oh, they're sitting close to each other, but they won't do anything. Is there anything really to be at peace for?'"
For Watson, that reaction — much like Spain's comments — misses the point of international competition.
"So, when I hear people like this, these are people that have no connection to sports, don't really know what it's like to discipline themselves past giving public opinion that people really don't even care about," he said.
He also criticized what he described as a broader culture of viral outrage in sports media.
"Because how many more podcasts are we going to have to listen to where people have these kinds of things, where they're having personal tantrums just on the airwaves for people to listen to?" Watson asked.
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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