Adam Rippon Boycotts White House Visit: ‘I Will Not Stand With People Who Discriminate’

On Friday, President Donald Trump hosted the Winter Olympic and Paralympic athletes at the White House.

Some of the most familiar names of the Game, including Lindsey Vonn, Gus Kenworthy and Adam Rippon, though, were not there.

Rippon took to Twitter to explain his absence.

“Olympians from the 2018 Games have been invited to go to the White House today,” Rippon wrote. “I will not be going. I will not stand with people who discriminate against those that they perceive as different.”

Rippon said he planned to donate to Planned Parenthood, GLAAD, and the Red Cross. He also encouraged his supporters to do the same.

“If you want to join me and you’re able to give a little, go for it!” he tweeted out. “I think when we’re able to help each other out and do what we can to lift each other up, that’s when we’re truly making America great.”

Rippon, who won a bronze medal at the Games, first made news not because of his ice skating but because of his very public feud with Vice-President Mike Pence, who he called out for his anti-gay stance.

He also said back in January that if invited to the White House, he would not go because he is gay.

“I don’t think somebody like me would be welcome there,” Rippon told BBC. “I know what it’s like to go into a room and feel like you’re not wanted there.”

[image via screengrab]