Advertisement

Simone Biles’ memo to Trump: ‘I love my black job.’ No one is replacing gymnast at Olympics

Simone Biles in midflight while performing on the uneven bars
Simone Biles appears to have weighed in on former President Trump’s controversial comments about “Black jobs.” On Friday, the U.S. Olympic gymnast wrote on X, “I love my black job.”
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Share via

Simone Biles may be a tad bit busy in Paris this week, but the U.S. gymnastics great seems to be keeping up with what’s going on back home.

On Friday — the morning after winning her second gold medal of these Olympics and the day before she competes again in a bid to add to her 2024 medal count — Biles took to X to take an apparent dig at former President Trump, the Republican presidential nominee.

I love my black job,” Biles wrote.

Advertisement

Here’s the backstory:

Simone Biles’ redemption tour continues, with the star winning the Paris Olympics women’s gymnastics individual all-around gold medal Thursday.

Trump has faced criticism for recent comments, including at a June debate with President Biden, claiming that immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally are “taking Black jobs now.”

He made a similar comment this week during a contentious interview onstage at the annual convention of the National Assn. of Black Journalists in Chicago. “I will tell you that coming from the border are millions and millions of people that happen to be taking Black jobs,” Trump said.

Asked to define a “Black job,” Trump responded: “A Black job is anybody that has a job. That’s what it is, anybody that has a job. They’re taking the employment away from Black people. ... The Black population is affected most by that.”

Advertisement

During the interview, Trump also criticized the Black women interviewing him and made false assertions about the racial identity of Vice President Kamala Harris, who is of Indian and Jamaican heritage and is on track to face Trump in the November election.

Simone Biles appears to have gotten the last word in a beef with ex-teammate MyKayla Skinner after the U.S. gymnastics team won gold at the Paris Olympics.

On Thursday, Ricky Davila — who describes himself in his X bio as a “Singer-Songwriter. Foodie. Political junkie” — posted two photos of Biles with the women’s all-around gold medal she won that day.

“Simone Biles being the GOAT, winning Gold medals and dominating gymnastics is her black job,” Davila wrote in the post.

Advertisement

The next day, Biles reposted Davila’s post, along with her own comment about her “black job.”

Soon after, Lakers superstar LeBron James reposted Biles’ post and called her the Black GOAT.

Advertisement