In case you missed it, the Huffington Post has a new-ish article out called “There’s A Name For The Discomfort You’re Feeling Watching The Olympics Right Now.” The subheading reads, “If waving the American flag or chanting ‘USA!’ turns you off right now, you’re not alone.”
It’s received a lot of negative feedback, especially on X, where everyone from conservative media personalities to Republican senators have mocked it.
If waving the American flag or chanting “USA!” turns you off right now, you’re not alone. https://t.co/ndUODJtix4
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) February 21, 2026
A response from Jimmy’s Famous Seafood in Baltimore said it best (and went viral):
Go fuck yourself
— Jimmy’s Famous Seafood (@JimmysSeafood) February 22, 2026
As we all know, the State of the Union happens on Tuesday night, and when they’re not feeling “icky” about waving a U.S. flag, the left is acting like a bunch of disrespectful children. Some aren’t even attending, while others will, perhaps, protest as they did last year, despite Rep. Hakeem Jeffries’ (D-N.Y.) call for restraint. Some of them are staging their own events at the same time.
Here’s more from Lindsey Granger at The Hill:
Instead, many Democrats are leading counterprogramming on the National Mall — the “People’s State of the Union,” hosted by Katie Phang and Joy Reid and organized by MeidasTouch and MoveOn Civic Action. Others will attend the “State of the Swamp,” featuring lawmakers like Ron Wyden and Eric Swalwell alongside celebrities including Robert De Niro and Don Lemon.
I don’t know — it’s fine to disagree with the president or a party, but skipping the State of the Union, or not wanting to wave a flag or cheer on your country’s Olympic team because of it, is ridiculous. These are not meant to be partisan things. It’s the kind of privileged first-world tantrum you throw when you don’t know what it’s like to actually live anywhere beyond the United States.
Meanwhile, let me tell you what’s going on “south of the equator” as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) might say.
In Venezuela, there is a private media station called Venevisión. It’s one of the country’s largest media outlets, but it was frequently a target of the Chavista regimes, so it had to lay low for many years. In the early days of the Hugo Chávez takeover, Venevisión and other media outlets were critical of him, and the result was non-renewal of media licenses and a vague law that allowed the regime to fine, suspend, or even shut down outlets that reported anything considered “inciting hatred” or “destabilizing.” That might include something like interviewing an opposition leader or covering any news from the United States considered positive or even neutral.
In order to avoid punishment, Venevisión chose to self-censor, switching its focus to mostly entertainment and only playing sporting events, telenovelas, and very little news.
But in the almost two months since Nicolás Maduro was arrested, the network has slowly but surely started moving away from that sort of behavior and has begun testing the waters. In late January, it aired some statements from opposition leader María Corina Machado amid her meetings with Donald Trump and Marco Rubio. Diosdado Cabello raged against it, but that didn’t stop them. Journalists have denounced censorship attempts live on air, and earlier this month, they covered opposition protests.
On Tuesday, a clip popped up on X of two anchors from Venevisión talking about their plans to cover President Trump’s State of the Union speech. Behind them on the wall is a huge graphic that shows Trump and the U.S. flag waving. It’s in Spanish, but you can still see the visual here:
Esto está pasando en Venevisión:pic.twitter.com/6ghl1pUT1O
— Emmanuel Rincón (@EmmaRincon) February 24, 2026
Two months ago, doing something like this would have ended terribly. Today, it’s unlikely the regime will respond with anything but maybe a few harsh words, thanks to pressure from Trump and Rubio.
Every time I see something like this, I’m reminded at just how spoiled the left in our country has become. They should be proud to wave that red, white and blue, flag and to cheer on our Olympic teams. And it’s an honor to get to represent your district, your state, and your country at the State of the Union, no matter who is speaking.
In a city just about 2,000 miles south of Washington, D.C., you can be thrown in jail for simply saying the wrong thing on a TV network — or so you could until two months ago.
Ironically, while they’re throwing their little fits, the same president of the United States that our local lefties call a “tyrant” or a “dictator” or a “Nazi” is not only working to ensure our freedom remains, but he’s working to ensure that this South American country that lived under real tyranny and dictatorship for decades will have the same freedoms we do in the future. The fact that Venevisión will cover the State of the Union tonight is proof that it’s already working.
Author’s note: Speaking of the State of the Union, make sure you tune in tonight to PJ Media, and join us for our liveblog. We’ll bring all the analysis — and snark — to the big event. I hope you’ll join us!
P.S. Venezuela is not south of the equator, even if AOC says so.
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