Eileen Gu Gets Targeted While Americans Serving Israel Get A Pass

San Francisco-born Olympian Eileen Gu is catching heat after Vice President JD Vance suggested that she should have chosen to represent the United States, and not China, at the Winter Olympics.

Gu, the most decorated female freeskier with five medals, is eligible to compete for either nation due to her American father and Chinese-born mother. “The U.S. already has the representation,” Gu has said in explaining her decision to go with China. “I like building my own pond.”

For our sake, we’re not interested in the debate on Gu’s decision, but in pointing out the double standard that, as always, reveals the incredible pass given to Israel and its supporters. Gu is not the only American representing a foreign country.

A. J. Edelman is an American-born Jewish Olympian who this year represented Israel by leading its bobsled team — and has been outspoken in his support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza, calling it ” the most just and moral war in history.” He has also posted more than one photo on Instagram wearing a “Zionist AF [as f*uck]” tee-shirt. And another shirt showing the occupied Palestinian territories as part of Israel. In fact, wearing Zionists shirts is a theme on this account. He has praised Zionist racist Michael Rapaport as a “mensch.” 

A Swiss broadcaster recently went viral after noting that Edelman can compete under the Israeli flag, while Russians cannot compete under their flag. And Russians, it needs emphasizing, do not live in a democracy where they get to vote, and are thus accountable for their government. Edelman called the Swiss’s plain-spoken words a “sick rant” that will be forgotten in two days, but his Israeli bobsled team will still be remembered in 20 years. We’d wager that Edelson’s words defending genocide are more likely to be remembered.

One of Edelman’s teammates is American-born Jared Firestone, who, like Gu, was raised and attended higher education in the U.S. But Firestone has decided to represent Israel, calling the nation his “homeland” and adding that competing for Israel and the Jewish people makes his Olympic experience “much more meaningful.”

It is a lot easier to target Gu for representing China than it is to speak about, say, Firestone failing to show up for the country that has given him, because anything related to Israel remains incredibly taboo in American life.

For the record, while Gu has been a star at the Olympics, the Israeli bobsled team finished last.