US Vice President JD Vance, who represented the country as a presidential delegate at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, was greeted with boos when he and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, appeared on the giant screen during the Parade of Nations.
Video source: X @DemocraticWins
“There's the vice president, JD Vance, and his wife, Usha – ooh,” CBC commentator Adrienne Arsenault said during the broadcast of the opening ceremony, writes the Daily Beast.
“Those aren't—oh, there's a lot of booing for him. Whistles, jeers, some applause.”
A source inside the stadium also told the Daily Beast that, unlike most other national leaders during the Parade of Nations, Vance's name was not announced.
AFP PHOTO
The boos came despite a warning from the International Olympic Committee to refrain from apostrophizing the US delegation, as the organization's president called for in a press conference on Wednesday.
“I hope that the opening ceremony will be seen by everyone as an opportunity to be respectful to each other”International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry said when asked if it would be understandable for the Americans to be booed at the opening ceremony, given “geopolitical context” of the Games.
“No one asks what country they come from or what their religion is. They all just sit togethershe said.
“It was a real opportunity to put things into perspective, about what we could all be. So, for me, I hope the opening ceremony does that and is a reminder to everyone about what we could be.”
Asked by reporters aboard Air Force One about the moment, President Donald Trump seemed surprised:
is it true It's surprising because people like it. Well, I mean, it's in a foreign country, you know, to be fair. He is not booed in this country
Former Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris poked fun at Vance's hostile reception, sharing a link to the Daily Beast article about the CIO's warning to be nice to Vance.
“Everybody booed anyway,” the official account run by Kamala Harris' team, in a post on X alongside a video of Vance's cool reception. “Sad!”
Protests in Milan because of ICE agents
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Milan to protest the deployment of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents in the context of the Winter Olympics.
The demonstration targeted both the information according to which ICE agents will participate in ensuring the security of the American delegation, and what the protesters described as “authoritarian slippages” and “insidious fascism” in the United States.
The announcement that ICE agents were being sent to the Winter Olympics in Milan sparked backlash in Italy, although US authorities said they would only be stationed in a control room and not on the streets.
The mayor of Milan said the agents were not welcome, and the Italian interior minister was summoned to Parliament for explanations.
According to France 24, the agents come from the Homeland Security Investigations unit, which specializes in combating cross-border crimes and is separate from the ICE structure responsible for tough enforcement of immigration policies.
The Winter Olympics began on February 6, with the opening ceremony attended by US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
