With his petty attack on US Olympic freeskier Hunter Hess – and by implication all the American athletes who dissent from the authoritarian regime – Donald Trump opened up a dispute that he and his minions will inevitably lose. Not only is Trump on the wrong side of the nation’s values of free expression and individual rights, but he has exposed the rejection of his politics by the most talented members of a new generation.

Hess violated the dictatorial MAGA mandate when he forthrightly answered a reporter’s question about “wearing Team USA” at a Winter Games press conference. “It’s a little hard,” replied the 27 year-old Oregon native. “There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of.” In the next breath, he made it clear that he feels alienated from the Trump administration, not his beloved country.

"I think for me it's more I'm representing my friends and family back home and the people that represented before me and all the things that I believe are good about the U.S.,” he continued. "If it aligns with my moral values, I feel like I'm representing it. Just because I'm wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.”

His freestyle teammate Chris Lillis didn’t hesitate to stand up with Hess. “A lot of times, athletes are hesitant to talk about political views and how we feel about things. I feel heartbroken about what’s happening in the United States,” said Lillis in response to a reporter. “I’m pretty sure you’re referencing ICE and some of the protests and things like that. I think that as a country, we need to focus on respecting everybody’s rights and making sure that we’re treating our citizens as well as anybody, with love and respect.”

Hess later expanded his remarks on social media. “I love my country,” he wrote, using a flag emoji. “There is so much that is great about America, but there are always things that could be better. One of the many things that makes this country so amazing is that we have the right and the freedom to point that out.”

For Trump and his usual gang of media stooges, all that nuanced speech amounted to “borderline treason,” as one of them barked on Fox News. The president himself called Hess “a real loser” and said it is “hard to root for” any American athlete who who expresses even such mild dissent. They piled on, with Michael Knowles declaring that Hess “actually has no place on the Olympic team. Because the point of the Olympics is patriotism…This guy hates his country, he's clearly ashamed to be wearing the flag. “

Fortunately Knowles has no role in deciding who belongs on the US team or much else of importance – and his lie about Hess “hating his country” is rejected not just by one athlete but a growing chorus of the outstanding young (and veteran) athletes on Team USA.

Indeed, over the days since Trump’s ill-advised outburst, more and more Hess teammates have spoken up to defend his right to share his views and to affirm the values he expressed – without in any way diminishing their own love of country or pride in representing the United States at the Olympics.

Among the first to stand up against the MAGA onslaught was Amber Glenn, 26, the amazing figure skater who has already won a team gold medal -- and is well known as a “pansexual” advocate for LGBTQ rights.

Glenn told the New York Times of her pride in singing the national anthem at the games, her determination to defend her community against the Trump regime, and her hope that Americans will come together behind the Olympians even as they exercise their First Amendment rights. A barrage of death threats from Trump supporters ensued, which Glenn said didn’t affect her.

“People online attacking people for speaking their minds, which is their (First Amendment) right, is absolutely absurd,” she said. “So I just hope that going forward we can be positive and support our team athletes. I’m always going to speak my truth.”

It is worth noting that several top athletes on the US team are the children of immigrants who have given heart and soul to representing their country while listening to Stephen Miller, JD Vance and other Trump minions deny their right to live here as full citizens.

On Monday, after winning a silver medal in a snowboarding event – the fourth in her career – snowboarder Chloe Kim said, “We need to lead with love and compassion, and I’d love to see more of that. A 25 year-old Californian whose parents emigrated from South Korea more than 40 years ago, she added, “Obviously my parents being immigrants, this one hits pretty close to home.” Her teammate Bea Kim, likewise a child of Asian immigrants, told reporters that while she’s very proud to wear the Stars and Stripes, she feels just as strongly that “diversity is what makes us a very strong country and what makes us so special.”

Others spoke out just as firmly, rejecting Trump’s divisive and bigoted outburst, but perhaps the most eloquent rebuke was voiced by Mikaela Shiffrin, the downhill champion widely regarded as one of the greatest Alpine skiers of all time. Quoting Nelson Mandela, Shiffrin said:

“Peace is not just the absence of conflict. Peace is the creation of an environment where we can all flourish regardless of race, color, creed, religion, gender, class, caste or any other social markers of difference.”

At 30, Shiffrin is a few years older than most of her teammates, but with those words she expressed the hopes of a generation who will long outlive this president and who hugely outnumber his bullying crew. They are the hope of a nation that yearns to be rid of Trump and Trumpism.