Here we go again. The Church of Progressivism has brandished its cancel culture tomahawk once again as it takes the scalp of yet another blasphemer. An American cyclist was suspended by his team for having the temerity to post a tweet expressing his support for President Donald Trump.

Quinn Simmons, the 2019 junior road race world champion, placed himself in the woke crowd’s crosshairs when he responded to a tweet posted by José Been, a Dutch journalist. The reporter tweeted to her American friends that she hopes “this horrible presidency ends for you.” She added, “if you follow me and support Trump, you can go.”

“Bye,” Simmons responded, with a black hand waving emoji. Another user suggested that the cyclist was a Trump supporter, to which Simmons replied, “That’s right,” with an American flag emoji. Some users were offended by Simmon’s use of the black hand emoji.

This story shows how crazy & totalitarian “anti-racists” have become.

American professional cyclist @QuinnSimmons9 was kicked off his team for Tweeting “Bye” with a black waving hand & admitting to be a Trump fan. That’s it. That constitutes racism in 2020.

RT to support Quinn. pic.twitter.com/mAhXWiujrb

— Frank DeScushin (@FrankDeScushin) October 1, 2020

In a statement, Trek-Segafredo, Simmons’ cycling team, announced that they were suspending him until further notice. “Regrettably, team rider Quinn Simmons made statements online that we feel are divisive, incendiary, and detrimental to the team, professional cycling, its fans, and the positive future we hope to help create for the sport,” they said. “(He) will not be racing for Trek-Segafredo until further notice.”

The team also claimed that they did not suspend Simmons for his political views, but for “engaging in conversation on Twitter in a way that we felt was conduct unbefitting a Trek athlete.” The athlete released his own statement, denying that there as any racist motives behind his tweet.

“To those who found the color of the emoji racist, I can promise that I did not mean for it to be interpreted that way. I would like to apologize to everyone who found this offensive as I strongly stand against racism in any form,” Simmons said. “To anyone who disagrees with me politically, that is fine. I won’t hate you for it. I only ask the same.”

The Dutch journalist stated that it was not her intention for the cyclist to be suspended and deleted her Twitter account on Thursday. It is not yet known how long Simmons’ suspension will last.

Professional cycling has been dealing with its own reckoning when it comes to race. The Hill noted that “Several European riders have been suspended in recent years for hurling racial invectives at the few Black members of the professional peloton.”

Perhaps this move was an overreaction motivated by the fact that the sport has had issues with racism. But it seems more likely that the team’s denials about its reasons for suspending Simmons are not as honest as they would like us to believe.

A black hand emoji is certainly not justification enough for such a move, especially since he made no racist comments during the exchange. The only other element in this equation was his support for the president, so it seems apparent that it was politics that prompted this decision.

Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Follow me on Twitter: @JeffOnTheRight