White House Briefing on the 1980 Summer Olympics
Part two
1980-3-21
Joseph Onek continues his comments about an alternative competition for the Olympics, admitting that it will not be the same as the Olympics. He refuses to name the other countries that will boycott the Summer Olympics in Moscow but stresses that all of the important non-Communist sporting nations will not be there. Jimmy Carter discusses the wrongness of the Soviet invasion and its widespread condemnation by other nations. Carter states unequivocally that the United States will not participate in the Moscow Olympics. He compares the athletes' sacrifice to that made by American farmers in support of the grain embargo, stressing that US Olympians stand for the finest principles of the United States. He answers sometimes combative questions about the consistency of US policies and Carter's authority to keep athletes from going.




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