Los Angeles bid to address Trump election at Olympic meeting
DOHA, Qatar — Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election looms over the race for the 2024 Summer Games as the three bid cities prepare to make their first presentations to a key gathering of global Olympic officials.
With 10 months before the vote, bid leaders from Los Angeles, Paris and Budapest, Hungary, have travelled to Doha to pitch their case to the general assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees — a meeting attended by more than 1,000 delegates from around the world.
The Los Angeles bid team may have the most at stake in Tuesday’s 20-minute presentations, which will occur exactly a week after Trump’s election victory over Hillary Clinton. Trump’s comments during the campaign about Muslims and Mexicans and his foreign policy plans could hurt the U.S. city’s standing with some of the IOC’s 98 members, who represent a wide range of countries and cultural and religious backgrounds.
Los Angeles bid leader Casey Wasserman, who was a prominent Clinton supporter, said his group has already been in contact with members of Trump’s transition team.