Mary Bono resigned as Interim President of USA Gymnastics on Tuesday, a job she was just named to on Friday.
The former Congresswoman, who represented the Coachella Valley from 1998 – 2013, immediately came under fire after being named to the position for a tweet she had posted a month earlier.
Mary Bono is OUT as @USAGym interim president and CEO. In exit stmt, she defends her tweet marking out @Nike logo on her sneakers: “With respect to Mr. Kaepernick, he nationally exercised his first amendment right to kneel. I exercised mine” pic.twitter.com/qS0uaGdXyl
— Sarah Boxer (@Sarah_Boxer) October 16, 2018
The tweet above cuts off the statement about Kaepernick and Nike, here’s the rest, via Daily News:
“With respect to Mr. Kaepernick, he nationally exercised his first amendment right to kneel. I exercised mine: to mark over on my own golf shoes, the logo of the company sponsoring him for ‘believing in something even if it means sacrificing everything’ — while at a tournament for families who have lost a member of the armed services (including my brother-in-law, a Navy SEAL) who literally ‘sacrificed everything.’ It was an emotional reaction to the sponsor’s use of that phrase that caused me to tweet, and I regret that at the time I didn’t better clarify my feelings. That one tweet has now been made the litmus test of my reputation over almost two decades of public service.”
After the naming of Bono, Simone Biles, holder of four Olympics gold medals and the only woman in history with 10 World Championship golds, took to Twitter to voice her displeasure as Bono had tweeted a photo where she drew over the Nike swoosh logo on a pair of golf shoes as a protest following the shoe company using Colin Kaepernick in an ad campaign.
*mouth drop*
don’t worry, it’s not like we needed a smarter usa gymnastics president or any sponsors or anything https://t.co/cYQizcjywn
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) October 13, 2018
Biles responded to Bono’s tweet with “mouth drop” then added, “Don’t worry, it’s not like we needed a smarter usa gymnastics president or any sponsors or anything.”
Bono deleted the Kaepernick tweet a few hours after Biles’ tweet and tweeted an apology.
I regret the post and respect everyone’s views & fundamental right to express them. This doesn’t reflect how I will approach my position @USAGym I will do everything I can to help build, w/ the community, an open, safe & positive environment.
— Mary Bono (@MaryBonoUSA) October 14, 2018
The apology didn’t go over well.
Not ok. Regretting usually means “regret getting caught”. Reminded of Maya Angelou suggesting when people tell us who they are we should believe them the first time.
— Robyn Bean (@robynlbn) October 14, 2018
A longer apology statement was then released by U.S.A. Gymnastics.
“I deeply regret posting the tweet because I respect everyone’s views and their fundamental right to express them,” she said in the statement. “This in no way reflects how I will approach my position at U.S.A. Gymnastics. I will do everything I can to help change the culture and to work with the entire community to build an open, safe and positive environment.”
Biles has been signed with Nike since 2015.Several other members of the team are as well, including fellow 2016 Olympic gold medalist Laurie Hernandez.
Bono was named as a temporarily replacement for Kerry Perry, who was forced out of the job after just nine months on the job after criticism for the handling of the Larry Nassar case.
According to ABC News, the search for a permanent replacement is ongoing.
