Olympic Bobsledder Lauren Gibbs Deletes Selfie with Ivanka Trump, Sarah Sanders After Onslaught of Hate

Ivanka Trump poses for a selfie with Lauren Gibbs as they attend the 4-man Boblseigh on da
Andreas Rentz/Getty Images
Charlie Spiering

Medal-winning Olympic bobsledder Lauren Gibbs deleted a selfie she took with Ivanka Trump and White House press secretary Sarah Sanders after she received a torrent of online hate.

“It’s important to remember that we don’t have to agree on everything to get along, be civil to each other and enjoy each others company,” Gibbs wrote, posting the selfie. “#Itsforamerica it was a pleasure to meet you both!”:

lauren gibbs

Olympic bobsledder Lauren Gibbs with Sarah Sanders and Ivanka Trump

But some of her fans and critics were infuriated by the photo and a video showing her letting Sanders and Trump wear her silver medal.

Gibbs responded to some of the haters, trying to explain why she let people wear her medal.

“I mean I have let many people try it on!” she wrote. “It’s a frickin Olympic medal and most people will never know what it is like to earn one, wear one or even touch one! It is meant to be shared.”

She denied that the photos meant she was complicit with Trump’s agenda.

“I am not falling for anything…but being nasty to them would not solve the issue…and don’t get me wrong there are many issues,” she wrote. “I am capturing the full experience of my first Olympics, they are part of it … again whether I like what they stand for or not.”

Others warned her she could lose sponsorships as a result of the photo.

“There are too many things in this world to worry about to let a selfie ruin your day,” she responded. “I hope you can get over it… wishing you the best.”

Others mocked her smile, suggesting that she was “uncomfortable” or “forced”:

“The sun was in my eyes,” she replied:

Another nasty tweet compared her selfie to what it would have been like had Jesse Owens taken a photo with Hitler’s mistress, Eva Braun:

“I would feel stupid if I had anything to do with it.. but I don’t so I won’t,” she wrote.

She also vigorously disagreed that partisan politics should be a part of the Olympics.

“Turning this into a Democrat vs Republican ‘thing’ isn’t the answer it’s part of the problem,” she wrote.

https://twitter.com/lagibbs84/status/967603888080633856

By Monday morning, the photo was deleted from Gibbs’s Twitter profile:

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