On Wednesday’s CNN This Morning, between coverage of the previous night’s primary elections, the show decided to dedicate a segment to bash the Patriot Games youth sports event and complained that the event seemed like a “MAGA Olympics.” Host Audie Cornish cited a CNN article that complained about the event, and said “many” youth participants “attend private Christian schools” and “appear to be overwhelmingly white.”
The president attended the event yesterday, which is an event for youth sports that is part of the America's 250th anniversary celebrations.
In the tease for the segment, Cornish labeled the event “Trump’s Patriot Games” and stated, “Basically, we want to know whether this is a representation of America, this youth sports event, or maybe a kind of MAGA Olympics.”
Wednesday’s CNN This Morning dedicated a segment to hate on the 'Patriot Games' as the “MAGA Olympics.”
In the segment's tease, Cornish asked if "this is a representation of America, this youth sports event, or maybe a kind of MAGA Olympics." pic.twitter.com/R8k3adf45k— Nick (@nspin310) August 12, 2026
At the opening for the segment on the event, Cornish declared, “The president promised the best of the best student athletes. I'm not sure that's what we got.”
She then read from a “CNN analysis,” which was an online CNN article full of complaints over the event: "Of the ones who were featured in the Freedom 250 Instagram page, many attend private Christian schools. They also appear to be overwhelmingly white, and the application for the games didn't specify race."
In the opening of the CNN This Morning ‘Patriot Games’ segment, Cornish read from a CNN article that complained that “many” of the participants “attend private Christian schools." The article then declared, “They also appear to be overwhelmingly White.”
The show then played… https://t.co/avEX0uZZf8 pic.twitter.com/OnXEfsqfg4— Nick (@nspin310) August 12, 2026
CNN has seemed obsessed with the idea of “private Christian schools,” as seen in an earlier documentary series earlier this year from Pamela Brown on The Rise of Christian Nationalism as she went after some Christian schools and called them “foundational” for the “Christian nationalism” movement.
Also, in the online "CNN analysis," the paragraph above the remark about some participants' attendance at Christian schools, the article decided to note how “applicants were required to list their biological sex."
In what had become a trend on Cornish’s CNN This Morning, random TikTok videos then played that also complained about the event.
One TikTok video complained, “These are supposedly the best athletes from every state in the country, and they all happen to be white? I don't know about that.” The other random videos compared the event to The Hunger Games and made fun of participants “hopping around” in “red and blue outfits.”
Cornish returned and first said, “I don't want to make fun of these kids” before she complained about the selection process of “recorded video essays, just sort of describing why they should be included.”
She later asked, “Do you think that people felt this is something they could participate in, or did it feel like something that was for Trump and the community of voters that he feels supports him the most?”
After former Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris advisor Josh Orton compared the event to the UFC at the White House, Cornish complained about the event having “those weird sparkler things” and how “everyone’s wearing a medal, which is giving participation trophy.” Orton then remarked, “Very liberal of them.”
Cornish then had some more thoughts and added, “I think people who are into sports were like, this doesn't seem like it's about sports.”
The transcript is below. Click "expand":
CNN This Morning
August 12, 2026
6:17:55 AM Eastern(...)
AUDIE CORNISH: So, after the break on this morning, we're going to talk about one more thing: Trump's Patriot Games. Have you heard of this?
Basically, we want to know whether this is a representation of America, this youth sports event, or maybe a kind of MAGA Olympics. We'll have more.
(...)
6:22:51 AM Eastern
CORNISH: Two winners now crowned and President Trump's Patriot Games.
The president promised the best of the best student athletes. I'm not sure that's what we got, but here's the president presenting the winners with their trophies. A slice of the $250,000 prize.
Now, a CNN analysis actually found that a specific demographic of kids got a shot to compete. Of the ones who were featured in the Freedom 250 Instagram page, many attend private Christian schools. They also appear to be overwhelmingly white, and the application for the games didn't specify race.
[Cuts to video]
RANDOM TIKTOK 1: These are supposedly the best athletes from every state in the country, and they all happen to be white? I don't know about that.
RANDOM TIKTOK 2: They're going on right now. The dystopian Hunger Games. [jumpcut] Katniss Everdeen-type events in the Hunger Games for our high school athletes to go and compete to do what?
RANDOM TIKTOK 3: They give backpacks and like red and blue outfits. And then they're jumping around, hopping around, and doing sports. I-
RANDOM TIKTOK 4: They're playing dodgeball. They're playing tug of war. How does one person win those games.
[Cuts back to live]
CORNISH: As a person who has lost a dodgeball so many painful times, I can tell you there's a way. But the group chat is back.
I don't want to make fun of these kids. The contestants range in age from 14 to 17, but here are the things people are raising questions about. Not selected through any qualifying events. They recorded video essays, just sort of describing why they should be included. Some students were chosen to represent states where they don't even live.
So, before we even get to the dodgeball and the tug of war of it all, help me understand who is this for?
(...)
6:25:13 AM Eastern
CORNISH: Do you think that people felt this is something they could participate in, or did it feel like something that was for Trump and the community of voters that he feels supports him the most?
JOSH ORTON: I feel like Trump was previously the reigning master of distraction. You know, we've got a war raging in Iran. We have like, you know, sky-high debt. We see people, you know, not having the economy work for them.
And we have this kind of thing, which I think in previous Trump eras, where he was a lot more popular, like UFC would have gotten a lot of attention. I do -
CORNISH: I think this is giving UFC vibes. I mean, you do have those weird sparkler things. You got to like a lot of light going on. Everyone's wearing a medal, which is giving participation trophy -
ORTON: Very liberal of them
CORNISH: I don't know why that feels not on brand ideologically.
But it feels like so many students, so many young people, they're on Instagram, they have brands to manage. They're athletes. There's name, image, and likeness. There were a ton of athletes who could have been participating in this and that, just in terms of rooting for it to fail, I think people who are into sports were like, this doesn't seem like it's about sports.
(...)
