White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki announced that the U.S. would be diplomatically boycotting the Beijing winter Olympics.
Video:
Jen Psaki announces that President Biden will be sending no official US representatives to the Beijing Winter Olympics. pic.twitter.com/8Mi3fo1i3f
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) December 6, 2021
Psaki said:
The Biden administration will not send representation to the Winter Olympic Games, given the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity, and other human rights abuses. The athletes on Team U.S.A. Have our full support, and we will be behind them 100% as we cheer them on from home, and we are not contributing to the fanfare of the game.
U.S. Diplomatic representation would treat these games as business as usual in the face of these atrocities and simply can’t do that. As the President said, standing up for human rights is in the D.N.A. of Americans, we have a fundamental commitment to promoting human rights and will continue to take actions to advance human rights in China and beyond.
Biden Is Standing Up For Human Rights
Psaki said that Biden did not support banning U.S. athletes from the games because he did not want to take away the chance to compete from individuals who have been training for years, but the President wanted to send the message that these Games would not be business as usual.
Trump would not have boycotted these games, because he owes the Chinese government hundreds of millions of dollars in loans. Biden is restoring core American values and once again making the US a world leader in the fight for human rights.
Mr. Easley is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association