UPDATE: Feb 9. — Fox News has taken down executive editor John Moody’s controversial op-ed from its site. “John Moody’s column does not reflect the views or values of FOX News and has been removed,” a spokesperson told HuffPost in a statement.
Previously:
Fox News’ Olympics coverage has started, and it’s already a doozy.
John Moody, the network’s executive editor and executive vice president, published an op-ed Wednesday lamenting Team USA celebrating its diversity.
“Unless it’s changed overnight, the motto of the Olympics, since 1894, has been ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger,‘” Moody wrote on FoxNews.com hours before official competition would begin at the Winter Games. “It appears the U.S. Olympic Committee would like to change that to ‘Darker, Gayer, Different.’ If your goal is to win medals, that won’t work.”
While its 2018 winter team is still overwhelmingly white and far less diverse than the 2016 summer team, the U.S. Olympic Committee told The Washington Post on Sunday that the winter team includes more African-American and Asian-American athletes than in previous years. The team also includes two openly gay athletes, including figure skater Adam Rippon, who has already called out Vice President Mike Pence for leading the U.S. delegation while publicly opposing LGBTQ policies.
Moody railed against the USOC for highlighting that it’s bringing the most diverse team ever to the Winter Olympics, writing that it raises an “uncomfortable” question.
“No sport that we are aware of awards points ― or medals ― for skin color or sexual orientation,” he wrote. “So, while uncomfortable, the question probably needs to be asked: were our Olympians selected because they’re the best at what they do, or because they’re the best publicity for our current obsession with having one each from Column A, B and C?”
U.S. athletes competing in Pyeongchang are already setting records, making history and breaking barriers ― and celebrating those milestones does not take away from their eventual and inevitable bronze, silver and gold medals.
Folks on Twitter were swift to call out the absurdity and anti-diversity stance of Moody’s column. Check out some of the responses below.