Rich Ruohonen joins other United States athletes making political statements at 2026 Winter Olympics
PublishedFebruary 10, 2026 5:30 PM EST•UpdatedFebruary 10, 2026 5:28 PM EST
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An astonishing number of Olympic athletes representing the United States in the 2026 Winter Olympics cannot stop putting their foot in their mouths.
It started with several members of the US Ski team, who took the bait from some attention-seeking “journalists” who decided to ask about the political situation in the United States, while ignoring other countries. Hunter Hess, for example, gave one of the most ridiculous statements of the Milan-Cortina games thus far, saying, “Just ’cause we’re wearing the flag does not mean we are representing everything that’s going on in the US.”
OutKick reached out to some of these journalists to find out whether they intended to ask athletes from other delegations like China, Iran, Azerbaijan or elsewhere, how they felt wearing their country’s flag. We never heard back.
RELATED: Left-Wing Reporter Asks IOC About The Booing Of US Olympic Team As If It’s Justified, Ignores Other Countries
Still, most of the political questions and answers had seemed to die down as the games got underway. Until a US Olympic curler, of all sports, decided to add his ridiculous, ill-informed, anti-ICE opinion to the mix.
MILAN, ITALY – FEBRUARY 04: U.S. Olympians Rich Ruohonen, Aidan Oldenburg, Daniel Casper, Benjamin Richardson and Luc Violette attend the Team USA Welcome Experience at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics on February 04, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images)
Curler Rich Ruohonen Goes Off On ICE
Video from a press conference featuring curler Rich Ruohonen surfaced on Tuesday morning, in which he gave a spectacularly bad opinion about ICE and the protests in Minnesota.
“But we’d be remiss if we didn’t at least mention what’s going on in Minnesota and what a tough time it’s been for everybody,” he said. “This stuff is happening right around where we live. And I am a lawyer, as you know, and we have a constitution, and it allows us to freedom of the press and freedom of speech.”
“And what’s happening in Minnesota is wrong. There’s no shades of gray,” he continued. “It’s clear. And I really love what’s been happening there now with people coming out showing the love, the compassion, integrity and respect for others that they don’t know and helping them out. And we love Minnesota for that.”
It is clear that he has no idea what he’s talking about. We do have a constitution, but there’s nothing in the constitution that prevents the federal government from enforcing federal immigration law. Not to mention that nobody has had their right to a free press or free speech violated in Minnesota. Though some churchgoers did have their first amendment rights violated by the protestors Ruohonen loves. And in fact, the supremacy clause of the constitution specifically gives the federal government that power over the wishes of individual states. The fact that in Minnesota those wishes include protecting violent or criminal illegal aliens is a level of stupidity that defies comprehension.
The Minnesota protesters Ruohonen praises have a right to protest. They do not have a right to interfere with law enforcement operations, or hit law enforcement officers with their cars. Somehow, all of this gets lost when a left-wing figure decides to go on a virtue signaling crusade, as he does here.
Regardless, if these athletes are so conflicted or upset about representing the United States because they have bad opinions, what’s to stop them from staying home? Why didn’t Ruohonen just withdraw from the games entirely? Why not stay back in Minnesota and donate your time as a lawyer to representing an illegal alien with a lengthy criminal record in his efforts to avoid deportation? We all know why. Ruohonen knows why. The attention he gets from giving his incompetent views is what he craves, and the praise he gets from the left for telling everyone how good of a person he thinks he is.
