Olympic gymnastics champion Simone Biles entered the fray of the U.S. presidential race on Friday with a post that appears to clap back at former President Donald Trump’s comment about “Black jobs.”
“I love my black job,” Biles posted on X, in response to a post from singer Ricky Davila, who had said: “Iconic photo of the GOAT mastering her black job and collecting Gold Medals.”
The exchange came hours after Biles held off Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade to win the all-around Paris Olympics gymnastics finals, taking home her ninth gold medal. At 27, she’s the oldest Olympic women’s gymnastics champ since 1952.
Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential nominee, has been criticized for arguing during his June debate with Democratic President Joe Biden that migrants are taking “Black jobs” and “Hispanic jobs” from Americans. Trump’s remark angered critics, who called it a racist and insulting attempt to expand his appeal beyond his white conservative base.
When pushed by moderators on what constituted a “Black job,” Trump told attendees at this week’s National Association of Black Journalists conference that “a Black job is anybody that has a job,” drawing groans from the room.
Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, has been critical of Biles before. During a 2021 Fox News Channel appearance, following Biles’ withdrawal from that year’s Olympics competition to protect her own safety in Tokyo — a self-removal that prompted an international discussion about mental health — Vance questioned why the athlete didn’t push forward.
“I think it reflects pretty poorly on our sort of therapeutic society that we try to praise people, not for moments of strength, not for moments of heroism, but for their weakest moments,” Vance, who was then running for his Senate seat, said at the time.
Trump’s campaign did not immediately return a message seeking comment on what Biles posted. Biles’ representatives also did not immediately return messages seeking further comment on her post or her thoughts generally about the 2024 U.S. presidential election. ___
Meg Kinnard reported from Chapin, S.C., and can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP.
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Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2024 election at https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.
