(DailyVantage.com) – First Lady Jill Biden praised the opening ceremony of the Paris Summer Olympics despite the blowback that forced the Paris organizers to apologize for mocking and offending Christians.
Mrs. Biden, who led the American delegation to the Olympic Games, described the opening ceremony as “spectacular” and said the rain in Paris “did not dampen our spirits.”
The First Lady suggested that the US would have its work cut out for it to surpass the opening ceremony in Paris when it hosted the 2028 summer games in Los Angeles. She said as she watched the Paris ceremony, she asked herself how the US could “top this.”
Organizers for the Paris opening ceremony apologized last weekend after blowback erupted over the tableau featuring drag queens depicting da Vinci’s iconic painting “The Last Supper.”
The Conference of French Catholic Bishops blasted the organizers, describing the opening ceremony as a mockery of Christianity. The Anglican Communion in Egypt warned that the International Olympic Committee could harm its “distinctive sporting identity” and “humanitarian message” by mocking Christians in the opening ceremony.
Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson blasted the opening ceremony, calling it “insulting” to the world’s Christians.
Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini described the drag queen tableau as “seedy” and said the Paris organizers insulted “billions of Christians around the world.”
Artistic Director Thomas Jolly dismissed the criticism over the tableau, saying in a press conference last weekend that the message was not “subversive” but one of “diversity” and “inclusion.”
Jolly said he sought to convey a message that in France, people have “a lot of rights,” including “the right to love whom we want” and “the right not to be worshippers.”
Anne Descamps, a spokeswoman for the Paris Olympics, told reporters in a press conference that the organizers had not intended to disrespect any religion and insisted that the opening ceremony sought to convey a message of “community tolerance.”
At the same time, Descamps apologized to those who may have been offended.
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