Donald Trump has said the United States “doesn’t win anymore” with regard to trade, immigration and national security.
Now a few of his critics have seized on the country’s Olympic victories to turn the Republican nominee’s signature line against him.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who alongside Texas Sen. Ted Cruz remains the most prominent GOP holdout on Trump, tweeted Friday night, “Someone said we don’t win anymore. Must not be watching Americans swimming in Rio tonight!”
Kasich’s tweet came as the US swimming team won several gold medals, including Katie Ledecky, who not only significantly outswam her competition, but bested her own world record for the women’s 800-meter freestyle.
Neera Tanden, the president of the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress and a Hillary Clinton ally, on Saturday morning wrote, “It’s like this entire Olympics is a repudiation of Trump: a diverse America makes us win.”
On Thursday, Simone Manuel became the first African-American woman to win a gold medal for the US in an individual swimming event.
Frank Luntz, a Republican political consultant and media fixture, tweaked the GOP nominee over America’s upset in women’s soccer, writing, “We don’t win anymore, folks.”
Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, a vocal Republican Trump critic, tweeted a picture of the victorious US Olympic gymnastic team with the caption, “America doesn’t win anymore?”
Josh Greenman, opinion editor with the New York Daily News, spotted the trend in advance. On August 4, he tweeted, “With the Summer Olympics set to begin, remember: We don’t win at anything anymore.”
As of Saturday morning, the US leads the medal count, although many of Russia’s athletes have been disqualified from competing.