<p>Figure skater Adam Rippon made an appearance on CNN’s <em>New Day</em> Wednesday morning. It should have come as no surprise that the media treated Rippon with kid gloves, putting him on a pedestal as the “first openly gay man to compete for the U.S. at the Winter Olympics.” The media spent nearly the entire duration of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games fawning over Rippon, as well as openly gay freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy; CNN provided no exception. </p>