Adam Rippon Accepts Mike Pence Offer to Meet: Don’t Get to Make Change Unless You ‘Reach Across’
Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon says he is now willing to meet with Vice President Mike Pence: “Now is the right time… He tweeted at me and he said I want you to know that I’m for you and I’m for all the Olympians, which I think that’s great, but I don’t believe it.” pic.twitter.com/CcEGLyZMjO
— CNN (@CNN) March 7, 2018
Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon says he’s prepared to meet with Vice President Mike Pence following their spat last month during the Winter Games.
Rippon attracted the eyes of the political world when he reportedly refused to attend a meeting with Pence before the Winter Games out of protest against the vice president’s controversial track record on LGBT issues. Rippon said the reports were true when he joined CNN on Wednesday — noting that he wanted to focus on the Olympics — but he would consider meeting with Pence now since the Games are over.
“Now is the right time,” Rippon said. “You don’t get to make any sort of change if you don’t try to at least try to reach across [the political aisle].”
Rippon said he doesn’t intend to make the conversation personal, though it will reflect on the policies Pence has endorsed with detrimental effect to the LGBT community
“He tweeted at me and he said I want you to know that I’m for you and I’m for all the Olympians, which I think that’s great, but I don’t believe it, because when I go home, are you still for me? Are you still for other LGBTQ Americans?…That’s where I feel like the tweet is almost disingenuous.”
Watch above, via CNN.
[Image via screengrab]
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