Those tuned into this year’s Winter Olympics may have noted the attendance of Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha, marked most recently by what many outlets reported as boos from the crowd when the American leaders were shown on camera.

Vance, an Ohio native, and the second lady were briefly displayed on screen at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics opening ceremony, moments after Team USA entered the San Siro Stadium for the Parade of Nations on Feb. 6. Though cheers rang for the American athletes, the moment took a turn when the Vances popped up on stadium screens, with “jeers” and “whistles” heard from the crowd, according to Politico.

“That’s surprising because people like him,” President Donald Trump told reporters in response to a question about the crowd’s reaction to JD Vance, after saying he hadn’t seen it himself. “Well, he is in a foreign country, in all fairness. He doesn’t get booed in this country.”

Regardless of one’s personal attitudes toward the vice president and the Trump administration he represents, such a high-profile sighting may have raised a question for some viewers – why is Vance there, but not Trump?

Why is Trump not at the Olympics?

Based on recent precedent, it’s actually quite common for vice presidents – or sometimes first ladies, secretaries or other cabinet officials – to be sent to the Olympics on behalf of the president, leading the U.S. delegation.

Joe Biden, then second-in-command to President Barack Obama, went to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. First Lady Michelle Obama represented the United States in London in 2012. Mike Pence, vice president during Trump’s first term, was in Pyeongchang, South Korea in 2018.

Then-Vice President Kamala Harris was not present at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing because President Biden’s administration refrained from sending any diplomatic officials in protest of human rights issues.

It’s so typical for the commander in chief to not personally attend the Olympics, in fact, that President George W. Bush’s presence at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing was truly unprecedented, marking the first time a U.S. president attended an Olympic Games abroad.

Reporter Emma Wozniak can be reached at ewozniak@dispatch.com or @emma_wozniak_ on X, formerly known as Twitter.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: JD Vance at Olympics, not Trump