For weeks now, every Invictus Games-related social media post has been flooded by anti-Sussex curmudgeons accusing Prince Harry and Meghan of, like, profiting from the games or trying to get attention because of the games or disrespecting the Queen with the games. Invictus’s social media account even sent out a general statement telling haters to chill the f–k out. My guess is that there is some kind of organized hate campaign attempting to toxify the Invictus Games to the point where “everyone” will believe there’s something wrong with Invictus or something wrong with supporting Invictus. It’s bizarre. Anyway, the Biden administration has announced their delegation to Invictus. I hoped that Dr. Jill Biden would head up the delegation, but no – Pete and Chasten Buttigieg are heading up the American delegation:
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will travel to the Netherlands this week to lead a presidential delegation to the Invictus Games, an international sporting competition for wounded veterans, U.S. officials said.
Buttigieg and his husband, Chasten Buttigieg, will be at The Hague for the event, which Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, are also attending. The secretary will be in attendance for the opening ceremony and speak at a welcome event for the U.S. team.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and Deputy Veterans Affairs Secretary Donald Remy will join the U.S. delegation, along with Air Force Under Secretary Gina Ortiz Jones and Rory Brosius, who runs the White House’s Joining Forces program to support military families.
Duckworth, who was a captain in the Army National Guard, lost both of her legs and partial use of her right arm when her helicopter was shot down over Iraq in 2004.
Buttigieg is expected to return to the U.S. after the games open Saturday. He will make one transportation-related stop in the Netherlands: Officials said he will visit the Port of Rotterdam, Europe’s largest seaport, on the North Sea.
[From NBC News]
I’m not trying to cause trouble, but I really do wonder why the First Lady isn’t going. The Bidens attended the Invictus Games in Toronto in 2017, as did Barack Obama. And that was just in their capacity as ex-public officials. The Trump administration sent Melania to the Toronto games, remember? It feels like a significant decline in support to send Secretary Buttigieg and his husband!
In happier news, the Ukrainian Invictus team arrived at The Hague!
They have been training for this event as part of their recovery and are looking forward to being a part of the Invictus community in person once again. pic.twitter.com/yfRl4SPxXH
— Invictus Games Foundation 💛🖤+💜 (@WeAreInvictus) April 13, 2022
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instagram.
Source: Read Full Article