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Gwen Berry looking for 'Colin Kaepernick payday' by turning away from US flag: Radio host

Gwen Berry turned away from the Stars and Stripes while the national anthem played as she received her third-place medal during the Olympic trials

A hammer thrower who turned her back to the American flag during the playing of the national anthem this weekend was accused of looking for a "Colin Kaepernick payday" after she said she felt "set up" by US Track & Field.

Gwen Berry turned away from the Stars and Stripes on Saturday, June 26, while the national anthem played as she received her third-place medal during the Olympic trials in Oregon. She later wore a top emblazoned with the words "activist athlete" over her head. The athlete, who is set to represent the United States in the Olympics next month, managed to rile up several conservative figures with her act of defiance.

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Ohio Rep Jim Jordan responded to the controversy during an appearance on Fox News, blaming the education system for promoting hatred for America in schools and other places. “You’re going along with the ‘woke’ crowd instead of standing up and honoring your country, that gave you the opportunity to have the goal and make it happen. I don’t get it," he said.

Meanwhile, radio host Clay Travis predicted that the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo will have a number of Colin Kaepernick "copycats" trying to cash in on saying "America is awful."

"Since when is winning a medal while representing your country and having the national anthem play a ‘setup’ in any magnitude at all?" Travis told Fox News on Monday, June 28. "I mean, this is all ridiculous. Nobody knows this woman. And I think what we're going to see a lot of, unfortunately, as the Olympic trials continue and as we move into the Olympics next month, is everybody is looking for their Colin Kaepernick payday. Right? No one has ever been paid more for saying America is awful than Colin Kaepernick, whose career as an athlete ended but he became an icon on the far left for saying America is a tremendously awful place." 

Social media users nodded in agreement, accusing Berry of trying to "pull a Kaepernick" and "make some of that Nike $." "She is terrible at hammer throw. And she has a medal to prove it lmao. Now she can pull a Kaepernick grow a big Afro and whine about whitey. Maybe she can one day afford to live in a mansion next to Patrice Cullors. Get lost," one Twitter user wrote of Berry.

"You don't like the circumstances? You don't have to participate in this activity, supporting this country you seem to detest. Oh, right. It is the money. You couldn't manage first so you are pulling a Kaepernick. Trying to make some of that Nike $," another tweeted at Berry.

"The Olympics used to bring out the best in us all. Now we have the Gwen Berry’s of the world pulling a Kaepernick for money and attention. Hating our country yet gladly taking in its bounties. Pathetic and gross," another chimed in.

While Berry admitted her actions were "disrespectful," she told reporters she was under the impression that officials would play the anthem before athletes entered the podium. However, the Associated Press noted that USA Track & Field (USATF) regularly played the anthem once each evening throughout the Olympic trials. "I feel like it was a setup. I felt like they did it on purpose," Berry said, as quoted by Reuters and CNN. "I was pissed, to be honest."

It's worth noting that Berry has a history of taking controversial political positions. She previously grabbed headlines in 2019, when she raised a fist during the medal ceremony at the Pan American Games. "The anthem doesn’t speak for me. It never has," Berry said at the time. "My purpose and my mission are bigger than sports," she added.