I'm grateful for free speech, says Utah governor when asked about Trump Olympics row

Record ID: 2340098

  • Title: I'm grateful for free speech, says Utah governor when asked about Trump Olympics row
  • Date: 10th February 2026
  • Summary: MILAN, ITALY (FEBRUARY 10, 2026) (REUTERS) NEWS CONFERENCE STARTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) UTAH GOVERNOR, SPENCER COX, SAYING: "Look, we love our athletes and we're grateful for our athletes. We recognize that there are lots of divisions in in our country and in our world today. I love that we live in a country, that we get to live in a country where people get to speak their
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Donald Trump Free speech Spencer Cox Utah 2034 Winter Olympics
  • Location: MILAN, ITALY 
  • City: MILAN, ITALY 
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: Europe,Olympics,Sport
  • Reuters ID: LVA001428110022026RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Utah governor Spencer Cox has defended Donald Trump's right to criticise US athletes at the Winter Olympics and advised the media to stick to sport, not politics when asking them questions.
    The Republican, speaking at a news conference in Milan to publicise the Utah 2034 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, was asked whether it was right of Trump to have called skier Hunter Hess "a real loser".
    Hess had said it was “a little hard” to wear U.S. colours given his unease about events at home, remarks that ignited a social media storm and drew Trump’s rebuke on Truth Social.
    Talking of his love for U.S. athletes competing in Italy, Cox said he was proud the United States had freedom of speech.
    "I love that we live in a country, that we get to live in a country where people get to speak their minds," he said.
    "That's true of athletes. It's true of governors. It's true of presidents. It's true of every individual in our country. And and I'm grateful for that.
    "I know the media loves this stuff. It gets a lot of clicks. I hate the questions you ask the athletes. These are kids out there competing. I think you should be asking them about their sports and about their competition and and let the politics take care of the politics."
    (Production: Irene Wang, Iain Axon)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2026. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: Olympic restriction: Clip cannot be re-published without additional clearances from the IOC.
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