There was no warm “benvenuto” for Vice President JD Vance at the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Italy on Friday night.
Vance and second lady Usha Vance were booed as they waved American flags and greeted the American team during the parade of athletes, per Mediaite.
The commentators spoke of the not-so-friendly reception at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.
“There’s the vice president and his wife, Usha — ooh, those are not — oh, those are a lot of boos for him,” one commentator said on the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.’s coverage.
“Whistling, jeering, some applause. Not a long shot of him,” she added. The camera then cut to the athletes parading in.
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Vance spoke to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni about his excitement being at the games.
“In the spirit of the Olympics friendship, competition — competition based on rules — and just coming together around shared values, we’re very, very thrilled to be here, and we’ll have a great conversation about number of topics,” Vance said.
He added he had been excited to attend the Olympics there “pretty much since I became vice president.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was also taking in the games and was seen at the U.S. women’s ice hockey game against the Czech Republic on Thursday. The U.S. won, 5-1.
