In one of the more egregious acts by a news outlet, Fox News posted a headline to its Twitter account that read “Lindsey Vonn suffers back injury in World Cup race after Trump comments.” You can see what the goal for the Fox News social media team was, and naturally it was successful. Several MAGA supporters hopped on Twitter to pile on the injured skier. Vonn has been critical of Donald Trump and his administration and in recent comments, courtesy of CNN, Vonn said:
I hope to represent the people of the United States, not the president. I take the Olympics very seriously and what they mean and what they represent, what walking under our flag means in the opening ceremony. I want to represent our country well. I don’t think there are a lot of people currently in our government that do that.
An obvious critique of Trump, as is her right as a US citizen. For Fox to imply that there was any correlation between her comments and the injury she suffered in a World Cup ski race is disgusting. This was done with the intent to stir its base and create a frenzy and drive clicks and media traffic.
Fox News has since deleted the tweet and retweeted without the Trump portion, but the damage has already been done.
Vonn took to Twitter following her injury on Saturday to update her fans.
Unfortunately I will not be able to race today. I am extremely disappointed but my biggest goal this season is the Olympics and I need to take care of myself now so I can be ready for next week, and more importantly, for February. As always, thank you for the well wishes ❤️??
— lindsey vonn (@lindseyvonn) December 10, 2017
Vonn is looking to compete in her 4th Olympics and continue to make history as Americas most decorated female skier. You would think the MAGA people who claim to love America so much would get behind someone that showcases American pride and dominance, but no.
Flip the page to see some of the comments on Twitter.