Nikki Haley criticizes American-born skier competing for China at Winter Olympics

Add Nikki Haley to the list of people upset with skier Eileen Gu’s decision to compete for China instead of the United States at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

The former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said in an interview with Real Clear Politics on Tuesday that Gu, who was born in the U.S. but is competing for her mother’s native China, has “to pick a side.” 

“You’ve got to pick a side because you’re either American or you’re Chinese, and they are two very different countries,” Haley told RCP. “Every athlete needs to know when they put their flag on, you’re standing for freedom or you’re standing for human rights abuses. There is no in-between.”

In 2019, Gu, a San Francisco native, chose to compete for China instead of the U.S. and is now a national celebrity in China. The 18-year-old recently became the youngest Olympic champion in freestyle skiing when she won gold in the big air at the Beijing Olympics. She also claimed a silver medal in the slopestyle event and is set to compete in the halfpipe this week. 

But it’s not just Gu who is frustrating Haley. The former South Carolina governor is not watching the Games, citing human rights abuses in China, specifically regarding the Uyghurs in northwest China. The State Department has declared that China is committing genocide of the Uyghurs.

“I can’t get the images out of my head of people on their knees blindfolded, knowing what’s about to happen to them,” Haley told RCP. “I can’t imagine in any way supporting that or propping up China.”

Last year, Haley called for the U.S. to boycott the Winter Olympics. 

“It would be a terrible loss for our athletes, but that must be weighed against the genocide occurring in China and the prospect that empowering China will lead to even greater horrors down the road,” Haley tweeted in February 2021. 

In December, after President Biden announced a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics, Haley called the decision a “joke.”