American freestyle skiers are facing intense backlash on social media after comments made about representing the United States at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics amid the Trump administration’s recent immigration enforcement operations in the U.S. 

Speaking to the media ahead of Friday’s opening ceremony, several members of Team USA’s freestyle ski team spoke out about representing the U.S. as the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations continue to be carried out under President Donald Trump’s second term. 

Bronze medalist Christopher Lillis poses on the podium during the awards ceremony for the men’s aerials at the 2024-25 FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup at Beidahu Ski Resort in Jilin City, Jilin province, China. It happened on Feb. 23, 2025. (Yan Linyun/Xinhua via Getty Images)

Two-time Olympian and Olympic gold medalist Chris Lillis said that while he “would never” want to represent another country in the Games, he’s “heartbroken” over the administration’s actions. 

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“I love the USA. I would never want to represent a different country in the Olympics. With that being said, a lot of times, athletes are hesitant to talk about political views and how we feel about things.

“I feel heartbroken about what’s happening in the United States – I’m pretty sure you’re referencing ICE and some of the protests and things like that,” he continued. “I think that, as a country, we need to focus on respecting everybody’s rights and making sure that we’re treating our citizens as well as anybody, with love and respect. I hope that when people look at athletes compete in the Olympics, they realize that that’s the America we’re trying to represent.”

Ashley Caldwell (L), Christopher Lillis and Justin Schoenefeld (R) pose with their national flags on the podium during the victory ceremony after the freestyle skiing mixed team aerials final at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at Genting Snow Park A & M Stadium in Zhangjiakou, China. It happened on Feb. 10, 2022. (Ben STANSALL / AFP via Getty Images)

First-time Olympian Hunter Hess echoed that sentiment, but took it further, saying he has “mixed emotions” about representing the U.S. in these Games. 

“It brings up mixed emotions to represent the U.S. right now, I think. It’s a little hard. There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of, and I think a lot of people aren’t.” 

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“I think for me, it’s more I’m representing my friends and family back home, the people that represented it before me, all the things that I believe are good about the U.S. – if it aligns with my moral values, I feel like I’m representing it. Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.”

He continued, “I just kind of want to do it for my friends and my family and the people that support me getting here.” 

Hunter Hess reacts during the men’s ski halfpipe final at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Aspen Snowmass Ski Resort in Aspen, Colorado. It happened on Jan. 9, 2026. (Dustin Satloff/U.S. Ski and Snowboard/Getty Images)

The remarks elicited a strong response from Team USA supporters on social media. 

“The anti-ICE, liberal athletes are already insufferable at the Olympics,” one comment read, in part. “If you’re not proud to represent the red, white, & blue, stay home.”

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 “Chris Lillis and Hunter Hess should be sent back home immediately,” another user wrote. “They have insulted our entire nation on the world stage and should no longer be allowed to represent us.”

“You shouldn’t be representing the U.S.A. if you hate it here,” another post read. “So tired of this Anti-American rhetoric.”

Hess is competing in the men’s freeski halfpipe, and Lillis is competing in men’s aerials. 

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Many conservatives are concerned about Bad Bunny’s presence at the Super Bowl, but they may have their focus on the wrong musical guest.

Green Day, who is set to perform before the Super Bowl, played at a pre-game party on Friday night at Pier 29 in San Francisco where he made a strong statement against ICE agents.

“To all the ICE agents out there, wherever you are, quit your s—-y-ass job. Quit that s—-y job you have,” frontman Billie Joe Armstrong said during the show. 

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Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day performs onstage during The FanDuel Party Powered by Spotify 2026 on Feb. 6, 2026, in San Francisco, California.   (Anna Webber/Getty Images for Spotify)

“Because when this is over — and it will be over at some point in time — Kristi Noem, Stephen Miller, JD Vance, Donald Trump, they’re gonna drop you like a bad f—–g habit. Come on this side of the line.”

Armstrong also said a performance “goes out to Minneapolis” amid the protests and shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. He also changed lyrics of “Holiday” from “the representative from California has the floor” to “the representative from Epstein Island has the floor.”

Armstrong has been critical of the president in the past. He has likened Trump to Hitler and the band frequently changes the line “I’m not part of a redneck agenda” from their 2004 hit “American Idiot” to “I’m not part of the MAGA agenda” in more recent live performances.

Billie Joe Armstrong performs with Green Day at Geodis Park in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (Denny Simmons/The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK)

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“I’m anti-them,” Trump told the New York Post of the performers. “I think it’s a terrible choice. All it does is sow hatred. Terrible.”

Bad Bunny, the halftime performer, has also been criticized by Trump.

“I don’t know who he is,” Trump told Newsmax of the choice last fall. “I don’t know why they’re doing it. It’s crazy. And then they blame it on some promoter they hired to pick up entertainment. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous.”

Bad Bunny speaks on stage at the Super Bowl LX Pregame & Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Press Conference at Moscone Center West on Feb. 5, 2026 in San Francisco, California. (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

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Bad Bunny said last fall he decided to do his residency show in his native Puerto Rico and didn’t book any U.S. dates on his tour over fears his fans would be detained by ICE agents.

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Three-time World Series champion Terrance Gore died at 34, the Kansas City Royals announced Saturday.

Gore was a member of the Royals when they won the American League Championship Series in 2014 and 2015, and a part of their World Series-winning team in 2015. He played from 2014-22, and appeared in the major leagues with the Royals, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets.

Gore was one of the most unique players in Major League Baseball, as he was added to postseason rosters for his ability to pinch-run and play outfield defense. He played 112 regular season games in his career, hitting .216 with no career home runs, but with 43 stolen bases.

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Pinch runner Terrance Gore (0) of the Kansas City Royals takes a lead at second base in the eighth inning of a game against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sep. 17, 2017. Cleveland won 3-2. (2017 Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images)

He had just 85 plate appearances in his MLB career. While Gore was not a threat at the plate, he was a threat on the base paths, as he stole 324 bases in 11 minor league seasons.

His ability to steal bases made him a staple on a many postseason rosters. Gore went five-for-six in stolen base attempts in the postseason.

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Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Terrance Gore fields a ball during a workout at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona, on Feb. 18, 2020. (Matt Kartozian/USA TODAY Sports)

Gore appeared in two postseason games during the Royals’ World Series run in 2015, and in one game during the Braves’ World Series run in 2021.

The Macon, Georgia, native appeared in two regular season games for the Dodgers in 2020. He was on the roster for the first two series victories of the Dodgers’ World Series run in 2020, but was left off the roster for the NLCS and World Series, but still received a ring.

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New York Mets center fielder Terrance Gore (4) reacts after scoring the go-ahead run on an RBI single by New York Mets center fielder Brandon Nimmo (9, not pictured) against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the eighth inning at Citi Field in New York City, New York, on Sep. 18, 2022. (Gregory Fisher/USA TODAY Sports)

Gore has more World Series rings (3) than career RBI (1).

He is survived by his wife, Britney, and their three children.

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Russia said it plans to “interrogate” two suspects in the attempted assassination of a top military intelligence official who was ambushed in Moscow on Friday, according to a Russian newspaper.

The Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that two suspects in the shooting of Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev “will soon be interrogated,” citing a source close to the investigation.

After questioning, the suspects are expected to be charged, the report said, according to Reuters. 

Alekseyev, the deputy head of Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency, was shot three times in his Moscow apartment building on Friday and rushed to a hospital.

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In this image made from video provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, on Jun. 23, 2023, Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev speaks to servicemen at an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

The Associated Press reported that the business daily Kommersant said the shooter posed as a delivery person and shot Alekseyev twice in the stairway of his apartment building, injuring him in the foot and arm. Alekseyev allegedly attempted to wrest the weapon away and was shot again in the chest before the attacker fled, the report said.

Kommersant reported that Alekseyev underwent successful surgery and regained consciousness Saturday but remained under medical supervision.

Russian news outlet TASS reported that the surgery was successful and that Alekseyev’s injuries were not life-threatening.

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Russian investigators and security personnel exit an apartment building in Moscow on Feb. 6, 2026, after Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev, a top Russian military intelligence official, was shot in an apparent assassination attempt. (Hector RETAMAL / AFP via Getty Images)

The outlet reported that the Investigative Committee launched a criminal investigation on charges of attempted murder and illicit trafficking in firearms.

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov accused Ukraine of being behind the assassination attempt, alleging — without providing evidence — that it was intended to sabotage peace talks. Ukraine denied any involvement.

Alekseyev, 64, has been under U.S. sanctions over alleged Russian cyber interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The European Union also sanctioned him over the 2018 poisoning of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury, England.

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Police officers walk past a high-rise residential building, the scene of an assassination attempt on Russian Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseyev, in Moscow on February 6, 2026.  (Hector RETAMAL / AFP via Getty Images)

The assassination attempt came as President Donald Trump’s administration has been seeking to help broker peace between Russia and Ukraine.

The warring nations agreed to a prisoner swap this week, according to readouts posted on X by U.S. special presidential envoy for peace missions Steve Witkoff and Ukraine’s national security and defense council minister Rustem Umerov.

Fox News’ Alex Nitzberg and Reuters contributed to this report.

Archbishop Ronald Hicks was formally installed on Friday at New York City’s iconic St. Patrick’s Cathedral, officially taking the helm after the retirement of Cardinal Timothy Dolan.

“I happen to like New York. I happen to love this town. So, start spreadin’ the news, I’m starting today,” Hicks said, officially kicking off his tenure as archbishop, according to the Archdiocese of New York. “Here are a few things you should know about me: I love Jesus. I love the Church. And I love people.”

Upon his installation, Hicks, who has served as the Bishop of Joliet, Ill, since September 2020, became the fourteenth bishop and the eleventh archbishop to lead the Archdiocese of New York.

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New York Archbishop-designate Ronald A. Hicks, who is taking over from Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who has held the post since 2009, holds up a letter from Pope Leo XIV declaring his new position during the Installation Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan in New York City, Feb. 6, 2026.  (Angelina Katsanis/Pool/Reuters)

The installation ceremony began, as it traditionally does, with the new archbishop knocking on the cathedral doors before gaining entry to the church. Hicks knocked on the doors of St. Patrick’s Cathedral with a metal hammer before he was greeted by Dolan, according to WNYW. There were then three processions at the start of the installation, which included honored guests, congregation leadership and several bishops, WNYW reported.

Hicks laid out his vision for the Archdiocese of New York, saying that the Church should focus on outreach and charity, rather than serving current members.

“This is a call to be a missionary Church, not a country club. A club exists to serve its members. The Church, on the other hand, exists to go out and serve all people, on fire with faith, hope, and charity in the name of Jesus Christ. This is not a criticism, but an invitation to renew who we are and rediscover why the Church exists,” Hicks said, according to the Archdiocese of New York.

Archbishop Ronald Hicks knocks on the central doors of St. Patrick’s Cathedral to begin the Ceremony of Reception for his Mass of Installation, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026, in New York. (Stefan Jeremiah/Pool via Reuters)

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The shift in leadership from Dolan to Hicks signals the U.S. Church could be moving into a new era with the Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV as the first American pope, The Associated Press noted. The outlet also suggested that Hicks, who is seen as a Leo-style bishop, could join Church leaders who are already pushing back against the Trump administration on issues, such as immigration.

Dolan, who has led the archdiocese since 2009, announced his retirement in December and submitted it in February when he turned 75, as the Church requires. Hicks was named his successor in December and was installed on Dolan’s 75th birthday, something he mentioned in his homily.

New York Archbishop Ronald A. Hicks, who is taking over from Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who has held the post since 2009, leaves following his installation Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Feb. 6, 2026, in New York City.  (Angelina Katsanis – Pool/Getty Images)

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“To Cardinal Dolan, thank you for your magnanimous leadership here for seventeen years. In particular, thank you for the gracious support you have shown me both publicly and privately. And by the way, we know that today is your birthday. Happy Birthday to you, and ‘ad multos annos,'” Hicks said. “Ad multos annos,” means “to many more years” in Latin.

Hicks was ordained as a priest on May 21, 1994, in the Archdiocese of Chicago. From 2005 to 2009, he led Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos, a charity that cares for orphans in Latin America. Hicks’ work with the charity, combined with his fluency in Spanish, helped deepen his ties to immigrant communities. Additionally, the AP noted that Hicks had requested that the liturgy at his installation also be said in Spanish.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.