Senator Tom Cotton has said that he wants Gwen Berry removed from the US Olympic team because of her protest during the national anthem.
This comes after Berry, 31, turned away from the American flag during Olympic trials while the National Anthem was played in her other two competitors' honor at the weekend.
Watch the moment Berry turns away from the American flag below:"I don't think it's too much when athletes are competing to wear the Stars and Stripes - to compete under the Stars and Stripes in the Olympics - for them to simply honor that flag and our anthem on the medal stand," Cotton, a former Army infantry officer, told Fox News Primetime, per New York Post.
"If Ms. Berry is so embarrassed by America, then there's no reason she needs to compete for our country. She should be removed from the Olympic team."
Representative Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), a former Navy SEAL, echoed this sentiment to Fox & Friends on Monday, June 28, and said that the 31-year-old should not travel to Toyko for the Olympics next month.
"The entire point of the Olympic team is to represent the United States of America. That's the entire point, OK?" Crenshaw said.
"It's one thing when these NBA players do it [protest during the anthem]. OK, fine, we'll just stop watching. But now, the Olympic team - and it's multiple cases of this. They should be removed. That should be the bare minimum requirement, is that you believe in the country you're representing."
Meanwhile, Piers Morgan also said that Berry should not represent the US at the Olympics because of her actions during the national anthem.
In an opinion piece for Daily Mail, Morgan wrote: "I've seen some outrageous antics from athletes in my time, but Gwen Berry's narcissistic tour de force at the US Olympics trials in Oregon takes the proverbial biscuit."
He continued: "If she wins, are we going to see a repeat of her petulance in front of a billion viewers? What message would that send to the world?
"I know what it would tell me, as a Brit who loves America: that, regardless of what she says to the contrary, she hates the United States."
Berry went onto explain that she turned away from the flag to protest the continued existence of racism in the United States.
Explaining her reasoning, Berry said that her aim is "bigger than the sport" she wants to represent "her communities and people".
"I'm here to represent those who died due to systemic racism," she said. "That's the important part. That's why I'm going. That's why I'm here today.''
However, while Berry's protest has been subject to criticism, it has been respected by the White House.
