U.S. Olympic gymnast Simone Biles waded into the discussion over former President Donald Trump‘s comments about “black jobs” after winning the women’s gymnastics all-around event at the Paris Olympics.
Biles, the most accomplished U.S. gymnast in history, won her second gold medal at the Paris Olympics on Thursday in the all-around event after winning team gold on Tuesday. The six-time Olympic gold medalist responded to a post on X saying that her being the GOAT, the greatest of all time, along with “winning Gold medals and dominating gymnastics” was Biles’s “black job.”
I love my black job 🖤 https://t.co/c5wPc6xOY3
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) August 2, 2024
“I love my black job,” Biles said in a post on Friday.
Trump used the term during his June debate against President Joe Biden and reiterated it at the National Association of Black Journalists annual conference, in both instances claiming that illegal immigrants have taken away “black jobs,” also referring to “Hispanic jobs” in the June debate.
“I will tell you that coming from the border are millions and millions of people that happen to be taking black jobs,” Trump said on Wednesday.
When asked to clarify what he meant by “black jobs,” Trump clarified that he vaguely meant jobs held by black people.
“A black job is anybody that has a job. That’s what it is,” Trump said.
Trump’s comments have sparked outrage from Democrats and some commentators over assumptions regarding what they believe the former president meant by “black jobs,” specifically as a short form for lower-income jobs. NAACP President Derrick Johnson criticized Trump’s comments in June, claiming it was boxing black people into specific job categories.
“Black Americans thrive in every industry, breaking boundaries and redefining excellence. We are not confined to any one #BlackJob,” Johnson said in a post on X in June.
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Biles will compete in three more events at the 2024 Summer Olympics, including in the vault on Saturday, the floor exercise on Monday, and the balance beam on Monday.
Biles’s double gold medal performance, so far, in the Paris Olympics comes three years after she had to withdraw from most gymnastics events in the Tokyo Olympics after she got the “twisties,” which is a mental block between mind and body that gymnasts occasionally get.