Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott said the 2022 Winter Olympic Games should be moved from Beijing following the Biden administration’s announcement of a diplomatic boycott on Monday.
Scott shared the remarks during an interview on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” on Tuesday.
🚨I’ll be on the @IngrahamAngle at 10:00 PM to talk about Joe Biden’s weak diplomatic boycott of the 2022 @Olympics & my letter to the @NBA on its failure to stand up against Communist China’s horrific human rights abuses & genocide. Tune in! pic.twitter.com/EtteYlKcEf
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) December 8, 2021
“Whether it’s the NBA, or whether it’s Nike, or whether it’s Delta, they’re all focused on how they make more money,” Scott told Ingraham.
“Heck with human rights. Now, they would like to get their rights, and they want to criticize everything that happens in this country. But God forbid, they do anything that would impact their ability to make a profit,” he added.
Scott claimed President Joe Biden’s diplomatic boycott is a “bare minimum,” arguing the Games should “never be held” in China.
“This is the bare minimum to say they’re not going to send diplomats. They need to be clear. These Olympics should never be held in China. They should be moved. They should have been doing this the entire time they’ve been in office,” the senator said.
Following the Biden administration’s announcement on Monday regarding the diplomatic boycott, Scott called on the Department of Homeland Security to explain how U.S. athletes will be protected in China.
Instead of actually standing up to Communist China’s genocide & human rights abuses, Biden has again chosen appeasement & weakness. I’m calling on @DHSgov to immediately explain how they’ll ensure U.S. athletes are protected at the 2022 @Olympics. https://t.co/fpQdIgHdHp
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) December 6, 2021
Scott’s stated:
“President Biden had the chance to actually stand up to Beijing’s genocide and human rights abuses, but again, he has chosen appeasement and weakness over strength and resolve. Time and time again, Biden does the bare minimum when it comes to dealing with China and it’s absolutely unacceptable. Now, the Biden administration is going to engage in a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Olympic Games, distracting from the fact that Biden has spent months ignoring calls from me, human rights groups and others to demand that the International Olympic Committee to move the Games to a country that actually respects human rights. Biden’s weak choice for a diplomatic boycott also does NOTHING to ensure the safety of American athletes who will undoubtedly be targets for Communist China to surveil and steal data and personal information.
“As a member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, I am calling on the Department of Homeland Security to explain to the Committee what they are doing to ensure athletes are protected while traveling to Beijing. Their safety and security cannot be put in jeopardy.”
In July, Scott called out NBCUniversal over its plans to broadcast the Winter Olympic Games after dropping coverage of the Golden Globes over “diversity issues.”
As The Daily Wire previously reported:
Scott is calling on the network to support human rights after noting a double standard in the network’s decision not to air next year’s Golden Globes over diversity issues but to continue with plans to air the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, China — despite the network’s own reporting on China’s human rights abuses.
In a statement on Tuesday, Scott said that “NBC’s own reporting has detailed the horrors faced by Uyghurs in Xinjiang and the genocide being committed against them by the government of Communist China. Yet this American network continues to turn a blind eye to Communist China’s atrocities when it comes to allowing Beijing to host the 2022 Olympic Games, apparently preferring instead to give General Secretary Xi a platform to whitewash his horrific crimes with the grand spectacle of the 2022 Olympic Games.”
Last month, the Republican senator sent a letter to leaders of the network “urging them, once again, to condemn oppression and stand for human dignity by declining to air the 2022 Olympic Games unless they are moved out of Communist China,” per Scott’s official website.