Laura Ingraham pined for the Olympics of years gone by ― when athletes couldn’t protest ― on her prime-time Fox News show on Friday as she criticized Olympians for taking a stand on issues at the Tokyo Games and condemned COVID-19 protocols in place for the event.
Ingraham, who once told NBA great LeBron James to “shut up and dribble” and to “keep the political commentary to yourself” after he criticized former President Donald Trump, lashed out at the “obscene and unnecessary COVID rules even for healthy young athletes leading up to the games.”
Coronavirus infections in Tokyo this week surged to a six-month high, with the host city currently under its fourth state of emergency.
Ingraham slammed “the overload of Olympians who think we somehow care about their political views.”
She recalled the “wonderful collective memories” of sporting excellence at previous Olympics, claiming Americans “rallied because we loved the country and we loved our athletes.”
“And for a few weeks, we all put our differences aside about pretty much everything else. But today, things are different,” she claimed, lamenting the International Olympic Committee’s slight relaxation on rules regarding protests by athletes.
The Olympics is being “ruined by self-promoting woke-sters,” Ingraham complained.
“In the end, no one ends up getting a medal,” she added.