‘I sure as f*ck am not,’ former ESPN host says he’s boycotting the Olympics, slams US for ‘bowing’ to China

Former ESPN host Dan Le Batard condemned the United States weakening its stance against China by “bowing” to the communist regime over its human rights violations by participating in the Beijing Winter Olympics.

In his remarks about the Olympics on his show, “Le Batard and Friends,” the sportscaster said that he had no intention of watching the upcoming Olympic games.

“We’re just gonna go on with the Olympics in China, and we’re just going to not try and apply any of our freedoms of protest, of speech?” Le Batard asked during his podcast. His comments were first highlighted by Mediaite, which captured the remarks he made early on in his show.

Le Batard pointed out how American officials were opting to boycott the Olympics by not attending over China’s human rights violations, but that the athletes themselves were still going. He suggested that the move was basically giving China the “economy” of the spectacle.

“They’re [athletes] being warned right now about ‘be careful of what you say freely in that country,'” Le Batard said, noting how Olympic athletes have been told not to speak out about China’s human rights violations against the Uyghurs, Tibetans, and other oppressed groups.

“I’m tired of America, with its business interests, bowing to things that don’t represent basic human right freedoms that we all agree upon!”

During the podcast, Le Batard also called out NBA Golden State Warriors co-owner Chamath Palihapitiya, who recently remarked that “nobody cares about what’s happening to the Uyghurs,” as reported by The Post Millennial.

“If you’re not gonna give me a full boycott,” the podcast host said. “I’m asking for sports to use all of its maximum power to apply the pressure and not just shrug its shoulders on our athletes can’t even speak about this while we’re there because this is China’s laws, we’re playing by China’s rules.”

Le Batard said that he did not want to advocate for a full boycott, but rather that networks like NBC stand up for American athletes who decide to raise their voices on human rights issues.

“Are you good with the packaging being commercial on all things China and the athletes not speaking freely on anything?” he added. “Are you good with supporting that? I’ll pose the question to the audience, are you gonna watch the Olympics? Because I sure as f*** am not.”

Basketballer LeBron James, who has businesses tied to the China market, has come under repeated fire for his comments on the Chinese government.

When then-Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted about fighting for freedom amid pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, James said: "We do have freedom of speech, but there can be a lot of negatives that come with that too."