A gay Olympian used his thumb injury to take a jab at Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday, saying he was happy he wouldn’t have to shake his hand.
Freestyle-skier Gus Kenworthy, 26, broke his thumb during practice Wednesday and used his injury to joke about the “silver linings” — meaning he would not need to shake hands with the vice president, ABC News reported. “Broke my thumb yesterday in practice. It won’t stop me from competing (obvi), but it does prevent me from shaking Pence’s hand so… Silver linings!” Kenworthy tweeted.
Broke my thumb yesterday in practice. It won’t stop me from competing (obvi) but it does prevent me from shaking Pence’s hand so… Silver linings! Will be giving my teammates (and literally everyone else) an enthusiastic “thumbs up!” of encouragement the rest of the trip. pic.twitter.com/XylPPGAq9P
— Gus Kenworthy (@guskenworthy) February 15, 2018
The LGBTQ community previously accused Pence of supporting gay-conversion therapy during the 2000 Indiana governor election. Pence denied the allegations.
Kenworthy is the second Olympian to officially come out as gay, following ice-skater Adam Rippon, who said he would not go to the White House if invited. The skier posted pictures of him with Rippon during the Pyeongchang opening ceremony Feb. 9. “We’re queer. Get used to it,” Kenworthy tweeted.
We’re here. We’re queer. Get used to it. @Adaripp #Olympics #OpeningCeremony pic.twitter.com/OCeiqiY6BN
— Gus Kenworthy (@guskenworthy) February 9, 2018
Kenworthy posted another photo of the two gay Olympians with the caption: “Eat your heart out, Mike Pence.”
Kenworthy also told Ellen DeGeneres on her show that he does not want to meet Pence since the Olympics should be about inclusion, HuffPost reported Feb. 5.
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