Fox News executive editor decries U.S. Olympic team for being 'darker, gayer, different'

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last updated 9 February 2018

Fox News executive editor John Moody decried the state of the modern Olympics in an opinion piece this week that skewered Team USA for what he believes is a prioritization of "darker, gayer, different" athletes over the more important goal of winning medals.

"A USOC official was quoted this week expressing pride (what else?) about taking the most diverse U.S. squad ever to the Winter Olympics," Moody writes, although he dismisses this being worth commenting on because "no sport that we are aware of awards points — or medals — for skin color or sexual orientation."

Moody additionally claims that "insisting that sports bow to political correctness by assigning teams quotas for race, religion, or sexuality is like saying that professional basketball goals will be worth four points if achieved by a minority in that sport." There are no rules about how many athletes of a certain demographic need to be on the U.S. Olympic team. Still, without citing any evidence to suggest his speculation is warranted, Moody asks: "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?"

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This year, athletes who earned their place on Team USA are 45 percent women and include 10 African-Americans, 11 Asian-Americans, and the first two openly gay athletes, NPR writes.

Update 1:50 p.m.: In a statement, Fox News said: "John Moody’s column does not reflect the views or values of Fox News and has been removed."

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.