Enes Kanter Freedom calls Eileen Gu ‘traitor’ for representing Team China
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Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom condemned American-born Team China Olympic skier Eileen Gu in an interview with Fox News’ “Ingraham Angle” on Tuesday.
“I’ll just say this, he’s a traitor,” Freedom said. “He was born in America. He grew up in America, he lives in America, and he chooses to compete against his own country for China, which is literally the worst human rights violator on the planet. He built his fame in a free country and then chose to represent an authoritarian regime.”
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Silver medalist Eileen Gu of China attends the awards ceremony of the women’s freeskiing big air event in freestyle skiing at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Livigno, Italy, on February 16, 2026. (Hongxiang/Xinhua via Getty Images)
He never spoke openly against Gu China’s alleged human rights violationsThese include the country’s alleged systematic campaign of oppression against Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, or the imprisonment of politician Jimmy Lai.
“He has chosen to play for a country that is literally responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of its own people and is literally running a concentration camp as we speak,” Freedom wrote, comparing Gu’s silence on the issue to LeBron James’ dismissal of a question about China’s alleged human rights abuses in 2019. he said.
“It’s like a game,” he said. “Whenever human rights issues with China come up, they all stop talking about it.”
Gu is the world’s highest-paid Winter Olympic athlete, earning an estimated $23 million in 2025 alone thanks to partnerships with Chinese companies and western companies, including the Bank of China. Gu said he was representing China on behalf of his mother, who was born there.
CONTESTICAL SKIER EILEEN GU PLACED IN SILVER AFTER GOLD MEDAL BID WAS VALID IN MILAN
China’s Eileen Gu reacts after the second run of the Freestyle Skiing Women’s Freeskiing Track Final at Livigno Snow Park during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, Monday, February 9, 2026. (David Davies/PA Images via Getty Images)
Wall Street Magazine Last week, it was reported that Gu and Zhu Yi, American-born figure skaters who currently compete for China, were paid a total of $6.6 million by the Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau in 2025 for “trying to achieve excellent results in qualifying for the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics.” In total, the two were reportedly paid nearly $14 million over the past three years.
Gu has been the target of global criticism since his decision to represent China, dating back to the original decision in 2019 and the first Winter Olympics in Beijing in 2022. This year, that criticism has intensified as she has won two silver medals and even responded to a question from President Donald Trump about criticizing U.S. Olympic Hunter Hess for criticizing the current state of America.
“I regret that the headline overshadowing the Olympics should be so unrelated to the spirit of the Games. It really goes against everything the Olympics are supposed to be about,” Gu told reporters on Monday.
“The whole point of sports is to bring people together. … It’s one of the very few common languages, the human body, the human spirit, the competitive spirit, not just the capacity to break records, but literally the breaking of human boundaries, especially in our sport. How wonderful is that?”
Gu also claimed that he too was “caught in the crossfire.”
“As someone who has been caught in the crossfire before, I feel bad for the athletes,” Gu said. “I hope they can ski their best.”
Vice President J.D. Vance weighed in on the controversy surrounding Gu in an interview on Fox News’ “The Story With Martha MacCallum” on Tuesday.
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Ill Eileen Gu of Team People’s Republic of China competes in the second run of the Women’s Freeski Big Air Final on day ten of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Livigno Snow Park in Livigno, Italy, on February 16, 2026. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
“I have no idea what his situation is supposed to be, I guess that’s what it comes down to Olympics The committee, I’m not going to pretend to agree with that,” Vance said.
“I would certainly hope that someone who grew up in the United States and benefited from our education system and the freedoms and liberties that make this country a great place would want to compete with the United States. So I would, too. The root of American athletesI think part of it is people identifying as Americans. That’s who I’m rooting for in these Olympics.”
Gu won two silver medals in freestyle skiing, ski style and big air events at Milan Cortina. He has one last event remaining on Saturday: the halfpipe, where he will have the opportunity to add to his total.
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