Saturday (October 3th), Simone Biles went vocal with her thoughts on USA Gymnastics new interim president and CEO Mary Bono.
It was via Twitter that the Gold medalist unearthed a tweet that has since been deleted. The tweet on Bono's account included a photo of Bono blacking out the Nike logo on a pair of shoes, seemingly in direct response to the Kaepernick campaign that debuted last month.
“Mouth drop,” Biles wrote in response to the tweet. “Don’t worry, it’s not like we needed a smarter USA gymnastics president or any sponsors or anything.”
Bono's tweet was first published only a month prior to her appointment, dated on September 7th and as many users pointed out, the fact that the tweet was not reviewed and/or deleted prior to the announcement of her new position is pretty alarming given the polarizing subject matter. Currently, the USA Gymnastics team does not have a sponsor. However, Biles is a Nike athlete, making this conversation closer to home.
USA Gymnastics lost the support of major sponsors, including Under Armour, in the wake of the Larry Nassar scandal in which the team USA Gymnastics physician was accused of molesting hundreds of girls and young women, including Biles, Gabby Douglas, Madison Kocian, and Aly Raisman.
Bono, a former US Congresswoman and wife of the late Sonny Bono, released a statement apologizing for her actions, writing: "I deeply regret posting the Tweet because I respect everyone’s views and their fundamental right to express them.
"This in no way reflects how I will approach my position at USA Gymnastics," she added. "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.”
It was shortly after Biles was confirmed to join the 2018 championship team that Bono was announced to serve as interim president following the resignation of Kerry Perry last month.