By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times - Sunday, February 6, 2022

Rep. Mike Waltz, Florida Republican, has accused NBC of refusing to air an ad criticizing corporate sponsors of the Beijing Winter Olympics.

The 30-second ad features Mr. Waltz as well as NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom, a prominent critic of Chinese human-rights abuses, calling out corporate support for what the congressman called the “genocide games.” 

“NBC refused to air my Olympics ad with @EnesFreedom unless we censor U.S. corporate logos of the Genocide Games sponsors,” tweeted Mr. Waltz. “We won’t let them silence us. Here’s the ad that NBC and the Chinese Communist Party doesn’t want you to see.”

The ad, which he posted Saturday on his Twitter account, displays the logos of six major sponsors: Coca-Cola, Nike, Visa, Intel, Airbnb, and Procter & Gamble.

“The world’s greatest athletic showcase, but just outside the show, rape, genocide, slave labor. American companies are drunk on Chinese dollars, entangled with communist dictators committing atrocities, and propping up these genocide games staged by the Chinese Communist Party,” said Mr. Waltz in the ad.

In the commercial, Mr. Freedom, who is a center for the Boston Celtics, declares: “Stand for freedom. Defund the dictators.” The ad concludes: “When you see ‘made in China,’ put it down.”

The ad was funded by the Servant Leadership Fund, a joint fundraising committee benefiting Mr. Waltz, the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Warrior Diplomat PAC.

The 2022 Winter Olympics, which are broadcast by NBC, began Friday amid global criticism over China’s human-rights record and censorship, triggering a U.S. diplomatic boycott. The Games conclude Feb. 20.

The Washington Times has reached out to NBC for comment. Last month, Molly Solomon, the network’s Olympics production president, said NBC’s coverage would take place within the “geopolitical context” of the Games and would include any protests.

“We are going to be focusing on telling the stories of Team USA and covering the competition,” she said at a Jan. 22 presentation, Deadline reported. “We understand that there are some difficult issues regarding the host nation, so our coverage will provide perspective on China’s place in the world and the geopolitical context in which these Games are being held. But the athletes do remain the centerpiece of our coverage.”

Corporate sponsors have said little in reaction to the pushback, but at a July 27 congressional hearing, they defended their human-rights records and emphasized their support for U.S. athletes.

“Across our sponsorships, our credo is simple: we follow the athletes. We do not select venues. We do not endorse cities, countries, or governments. We sponsor events and competitors. We ensure that the vast majority of our funding flows to the athletes,” said Paul Lalli, Coca-Cola global vice president for human rights, in his prepared remarks.

Coca-Cola describes itself on the International Olympics Committee website as “the longest-standing partner of the Olympic Movement, having supported every edition of the Olympic Games since 1928.”

Last year, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared that China was engaged in “crimes against humanity” and a “genocide” against its predominantly Muslim Uyghur minority in Xinjiang, citing Chinese detention camps, forced labor and forced sterilizations.

China has denied the charges, blasting the criticism last year as “malicious and politically driven hype” that “couldn’t be further from the truth.”

Coca-Cola has been accused of hypocrisy for supporting the Beijing Games while criticizing last year’s Republican-backed Georgia elections bill, which added voter-ID requirements for mail-in voting, expanded early voting, and banned food-and-water handouts within 150 feet of a polling place.

• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.

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