Soccer star Megan Rapinoe called out President Donald Trump for spewing a message that ‘excludes’ people who look like her.
During an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press, Rapinoe voiced her frustration at a president who she believes is trying more and more to divide the United States.
‘I think Trump’s message excludes people that look like me and are me, of course,’ Rapinoe said.
‘But it excludes a lot of people in his base, as well. And I think that he is trying to divide so he can conquer, not unite so we can all conquer,’ she said Sunday.
Rapinoe, who led her team to a 2-0 victory over the Netherlands in the FIFA Women’s World Cup finale, said she doesn’t like where the US is as a nation, but the women’s soccer team win did ‘make people proud again’.
Soccer star Megan Rapinoe (pictured on Meet the Press) called out President Donald Trump for spewing a message that ‘excludes’ people who look like her
During an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press , Rapinoe voiced her frustration at a president who she believes is trying more and more to divide the United States. ‘I think Trump’s message excludes people that look like me and are me, of course,’ Rapinoe said
‘I think we’ve just managed to give people hope,’ Rapinoe said. ‘Now we need to do the next step, which is to actually take the progress step.’
The 34-year-old said that she thinks ‘the opportunity is in everyone’s exhaustion of the fighting and the negative, and our team has managed to make people proud again, to capture people’s interest, to make them want to do something’.
‘I think people are asking the question, “How can we rally around this team?” And in that, really, what the team stands for, whether it’s equal pay or racial equality or LGBTQ rights,’ Rapinoe told NBC.
On Sunday, Secret deodorant stepped in to help ‘close the pay gap’ with the pledge of $529,000 to players on the soccer team.
The brand, owned by Procter & Gamble (P&G), promised that each of the team’s 23 World Cup winning squad will receive an additional $23,000.
‘Women just made history. But they have always deserved equal pay,’ they wrote in a full page New York Times ad.
‘Equality is about more than pay and players; it’s about values,’ the ad read. ‘It’s recognizing inequality and working to rectifying it. It’s learning from what’s wrong and standing up for what’s right.’
It urged the US Soccer Federation (USSF) to be a ‘beacon of strength and end gender pay inequality once and for all, for all players’.
The ad continued to hope the USSF ‘has the strength to be on the right side of history’.
Earlier on Sunday, Jay Inslee, one of the 25 candidates running for the Democratic primary in 2020, claimed he was half joking when he said he would nominate Rapinoe as his secretary of state if he were to become president.
‘I haven’t asked her yet about this,’ Inslee told MSNBC Sunday morning. ‘We’ll leave that as a tongue in cheek thing at the moment.’
Inslee said the gay professional soccer player that has risen to prominence as they dominated and won the 2019 Fifa World Cup.
‘I know she would do better than the Trump administration,’ he added.
Earlier on Sunday, Jay Inslee (pictured), one of the 25 candidates running for the Democratic primary in 2020, claimed he was half joking when he said he would nominate Rapinoe as his secretary of state if he were to become president
As the US women’s soccer team gained traction during the World Cup, Rapinoe said she would not be making a visit to the White House if her team earned its second consecutive World Cup win
As the US women’s soccer team gained traction during the World Cup, Rapinoe said she would not be making a visit to the White House if her team earned its second consecutive World Cup win.
‘I’m not going to the f**king White House,’ Rapinoe responded when asked if she would accept an invitation to the White House. The moment, caught on camera, went viral.
She also went viral in her handling of the National Anthem, in 2016 becoming the first female to kneel in protest.
Rapinoe has not participated in the National Anthem for years, usually standing with her hands by her side instead of over her heart.
On Wednesday, the team participated in a victory parade in New York City, and Rapinoe publicly spoke from the stage not just about the win, but also about unity in the country.
‘Be more. Be better. Be bigger than what you’ve ever been before,’ Rapinoe said during public remarks.
‘If this team is any representation of what you can be when you do that, please take this as an example.’