Olympic gymnastics champion Simone Biles entered the fray of the US presidential race on Friday with a post that appears to clap back at former US president Donald Trump‘s comment about “Black jobs”.
“I love my black job,” Biles posted on X, in response to a post from Ricky Davila.
The singer shared a post congratulating Biles, who is now the USA’s most decorated gymnast following her gold medal win on Thursday.
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“Iconic photo of the GOAT mastering her black job and collecting Gold Medals,” Davila wrote.
The exchange came hours after Biles held off Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade to win the all-around final, taking home her ninth gold medal.
At 27, she’s the oldest Olympic women’s gymnastics champ since 1952.
Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential nominee, has been criticised for arguing during his June debate with Democratic President Joe Biden that migrants are taking “Black jobs” and “Hispanic jobs” from Americans.
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https://twitter.com/Simone_Biles/status/1819284274224173147?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Trump’s remark angered critics, who called it a racist and insulting attempt to expand his appeal beyond his white conservative base.
When pushed by moderators on what constituted a “Black job”, Trump told attendees at this week’s National Association of Black Journalists conference that “a Black job is anybody that has a job”, drawing groans from the room.
Trump’s running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, has been critical of Biles before.
During a 2021 Fox News Channel appearance, following Biles’ withdrawal from that year’s Olympics competition to protect her own safety in Tokyo — a self-removal that prompted an international discussion about mental health — Vance questioned why the athlete didn’t push forward.
“I think it reflects pretty poorly on our sort of therapeutic society that we try to praise people, not for moments of strength, not for moments of heroism, but for their weakest moments,” Vance, who was then running for his Senate seat, said at the time.
After her most recent medal, Biles reflected on this time in her life, saying she never thought she’d compete again.
“At the end of the day, it is crazy that I am in the conversation of greatest of all athletes because I just still think I’m Simone Biles from Spring, Texas that loves to flip three years ago,” she said during a press conference.
“I never thought I’d step foot on a gymnastics floor again just because of everything that had happened.
“But with the help of Cecile and Laurent, I got back in the gym and worked really hard, mentally and physically. Even this morning at 7am I saw my therapist.”
Biles’ representatives also did not immediately return messages seeking further comment on her post or her thoughts generally about the 2024 US presidential election.
Trump’s campaign did not immediately return a message seeking comment on what Biles posted.
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