Gymnastics great Simone Biles appeared to take a swipe at former President Donald Trump on Friday.
‘I love my black job,’ she posted after winning her second gold medal at the Paris Olympic Games, which cemented her status as the most decorated U.S. gymnast in history.
Trump has used the term ‘black job’ on several occassions, including at his controversial appearance in front of the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago, where he argued immigrants were taking ‘black jobs’ away.
Online Trump was already being mocked for the term, as a popular meme was created about Vice President Kamala Harris as she became the likely Democratic nominee.
The meme shows an image of a smiling Harris walking through a curtain: ‘Did somebody say “black job?”‘ – a suggestion that the top White House job fit the description.
Simone Biles appeared to take a swipe at former President Donald Trump on Friday by writing ‘I love my black job’ on social media
The Trump term has been used in memes, including one of Vice President Kamala Harris that suggests a ‘black job’ is president of the United States
Biles’ dig comes after comments made by Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance resurfaced, in which the Ohio Republican called the gymnast ‘weak’ for pulling out of the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021.
‘I think, obviously, it’s understandable that she was going through an incredible amount of pressure,’ Vance said at the time.
‘What I find so weird about this, and it reflects on the media more than it does on Simone Biles, is that we’ve tried to turn a very tragic moment – Simone Biles quitting the Olympic team – into this act of heroism.’
‘And I think it reflects pretty poorly on our sort of therapeutic society that we try to praise people not for moments of strength, not for moments of heroism, but for their weakest moments.’
Vance added: ‘Being an athlete at that level is incredibly tough… a normal response in this moment would be to say: “It’s just a shame that she’s going through this. It’s a shame that she quit.”‘
‘But instead, what our press has done, I think, is turn this into this weird therapeutic moment. “Let’s praise her for doing this.” And I think that’s really where the problem herein lies,’ Vance said.
Biles pulled out of the Tokyo Games after suffering from the ‘twisties’, a form of mental block which can cause gymnasts to lose their spatial awareness mid-air, which could lead to dangerous accidents.
She was extremely public about putting her mental health first and continues touting going to therapy.
This week she first helped Team USA win the Team All-Around gold medal and then on Thursday won the Individual All-Around gold medal, making her the most decorated gymnast in U.S history.
