Rippon rebuffed overture to speak with Pence
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea – Vice President Pence is set to lead the official U.S. delegation to the Winter Olympics opening ceremony, a delegation that is making a strong political statement against North Korea’s oppressive regime by including the father of Otto Warmbier, the student who died not long after being held in captivity in North Korea.
But on the afternoon of Jan. 17, Pence had another focus: He was so concerned about the criticism he received from U.S. Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon that his staff went to the extraordinary length of asking the U.S. Olympic Committee to set up a conversation between the two — an offer Rippon turned down.
According to two people with knowledge of the situation who were not authorized to speak publicly about it, a member of Pence’s staff requested the conversation with the openly gay Rippon after reading the skater’s derogatory remarks about him in a USA TODAY story that had been published online just an hour earlier. Rippon, the two people said, declined.
The spat between the vice president and the figure skater began when I asked Rippon last month about Pence’s selection for the ceremonial role of leading the U.S. delegation to the Olympic opening ceremony.
“You mean Mike Pence, the same Mike Pence that funded gay conversion therapy? I’m not buying it,” Rippon said.
After reading the story online, Pence’s press secretary quickly shot back, sending USA TODAY a rebuttal to Rippon’s comments: “The vice president is proud to lead the U.S. delegation to the Olympics and support America’s incredible athletes,” press secretary Alyssa Farah said. “This accusation is totally false and has no basis in fact. Despite these misinformed claims, the vice president will be enthusiastically supporting all the U.S. athletes competing next month in Pyeongchang.”
But that was not the end of it. Pence apparently was so concerned about Rippon’s comments that he set in motion the attempt to speak with him. Farah did not reply to an email this week seeking comment, but after this story was published, Jarrod Agen, Pence’s deputy chief of staff and communications director, issued a statement.
“The vice president’s office did not reach out to set up a conversation with Mr. Rippon,” the statement said. “As we’ve said before, the vice president is supporting all the U.S. athletes in the Olympics and is hoping they all win medals.”
On Jan. 30, nearly two weeks after the dust-up, Rippon said he was focusing solely on training for the Olympics. “I’m not trying to pick a fight with the vice president of the United States.”
Rippon has said several times that he would consider meeting with Pence sometime later. “If I had the chance to meet him afterwards, after I’m finished competing, there might be a possibility to have an open conversation,” Rippon said in the interview last month. “He seems more mild-mannered than Donald Trump. … But I don’t think the current administration represents the values that I was taught growing up. Mike Pence doesn’t stand for anything that I really believe in.”
The comments from Rippon about gay conversion therapy that so riled Pence come from a widespread belief stemming from a statement Pence made in 2000 on his congressional campaign website: “Resources should be directed toward those institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior.”
While Pence didn’t explicitly mention gay conversion therapy, leaders in the LGBT community have said they believe that’s exactly what Pence meant in light of his long-standing opposition to gay rights. In November 2016, The New
York Times reported that Pence’s spokesman at the time, Marc Lotter, denied that Pence supports the practice.
I emailed Farah on Jan. 17 asking what the website statement was referring to, if not gay conversion therapy. She did not send an on-the-record reply.
Rippon, 28, the 2016 U.S. men’s figure skating champion who is one of the first openly gay U.S. Winter Olympians, was selected to his first Olympic team in early January after finishing fourth at the U.S. national championships.
Rippon, who said he was bullied and teased as a boy growing up in Scranton, Pa., came out publicly in a 2015 story in
Skating magazine. He often talks about how he hopes his story can help others, especially young people who might be struggling with their sexuality.