--- description: The Paralympic Games responded after President Donald Trump called the games "tough to watch." Adam Rippon and Cher also responded. title: The Paralympics Fire Back After Trump Calls Them 'Tough to Watch' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1a914feda50d7972/69892f03cf40a8552ec4c123/paralympic-games.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Sports](/section/sports/) ## Sports Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [paralympics](/tag/paralympics/) ## paralympics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Paralympics Fire Back After Trump Calls Them 'Tough to Watch'  by [Jamie Ducharme](/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Apr 28, 2018 3:50 PM CUT  Paralympic skiier Dan Cnossen speaks as U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during a celebration of the USA 2018 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Teams. Paralympic skiier Dan Cnossen speaks as U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during a celebration of the USA 2018 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Teams.Mark Wilson—Getty Images  by [Jamie Ducharme](/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Apr 28, 2018 3:50 PM CUT Hours after President Donald Trump called the Paralympic Games “tough to watch,” the organization called on the President to join the billions of viewers around the world who are inspired by the competition. “Record numbers of people around the world are not finding @Paralympics tough to watch,” the organization tweeted on Saturday. “Billions of viewers now take in the Paralympics in hundreds of countries around the world. We hope the US President continues to watch and be inspired by the Paralympics.” > [](https://twitter.com/Paralympics/status/990236378402377730) The tweet comes in response to a remark Trump made at a Friday ceremony celebrating this year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. “What happened with the Paralympics was so incredible and so inspiring to me,” Trump said at the ceremony, [according to The Daily Beast](https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-paralympics-was-tough-to-watch "undefined"). “And I watched — it’s a little tough to watch too much, but I watched as much as I could.” The remark sparked immediate backlash online, with many recalling an incident during the 2016 presidential campaign when Trump [appeared to mock a reporter with physical disability](http://time.com/4128509/donald-trump-new-york-times-apology-disability/ "undefined"). Trump denied the accusation. > [](https://twitter.com/Adaripp/status/990028493193924608) > [](https://twitter.com/cher/status/990082885385314306) > [](https://twitter.com/stevesilberman/status/989990771494457344) > [](https://twitter.com/DavidJollyFL/status/990008909124591616) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5258664/trump-paralympic-games-tough-watch/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5258664/trump-paralympic-games-tough-watch/"},"headline":"The Paralympics Fire Back After Trump Calls Them 'Tough to Watch'","datePublished":"2018-04-28T15:50:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:07:07.651Z","description":"'We hope the U.S. President continues to watch and be inspired'","url":"https://time.com/5258664/trump-paralympic-games-tough-watch/","keywords":["paralympics","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1a914feda50d7972/69892f03cf40a8552ec4c123/paralympic-games.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jamie Ducharme","jobTitle":"Ducharme is a contributor to TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1a914feda50d7972/69892f03cf40a8552ec4c123/paralympic-games.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Trump Welcomes U.S. Olympic Athletes To The White House","caption":"President Trump Welcomes U.S. Olympic Athletes To The White House","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/paralympics/","name":"paralympics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5258664/trump-paralympic-games-tough-watch/","name":"The Paralympics Fire Back After Trump Calls Them 'Tough to Watch'"}}]}] ```