It's easy to dislike the US women's soccer team at this Women's World Cup. They're the defending champions. They play with arrogance. They represent America. The Spanish media were referring to the US team as 'El Imperio' ahead of last Monday's Round of 16, and that feels about right.
That said, it's hard to watch the US women's team without being captivated by the presence of their co-captain Megan Rapinoe. In a cagey, unexpectedly close game, Rapinoe was immense. She scored America's two goals via two penalties. In the decisive final twenty minutes, she was everywhere, and fouled endlessly by the Spanish. And that's before we even get to Rapinoe's anthem protests. Rapinoe - who in the past had kneeled during the Star-Spangled Banner in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick - has refused to put her hand over her heart or sing the anthem at this year's World Cup. Not the most provocative protest on the surface - but Rapinoe definitely stands out on the anthem line when compared with her patriotic teammates.
Rapinoe has won a lot more fans and enemies in the last 24 hours after a salty clip of her outrightly denying that the US team would be visiting the White House after the World Cup went viral over night.
Q: “Are you excited about going to the White House?”
Megan Rapinoe: “We’re not going to the fucking White House.”
pic.twitter.com/HO0Qh1AF97— Mona Eltahawy (@monaeltahawy) June 25, 2019
Rapinoe was speaking before the World Cup in an interview with 8by8 magazine. She went on to add: “I don’t know everyone’s voting patterns on our team, but I would hope no one voted for him.” Trump was unusually low-key in firing back at Rapinoe. When asked by The Hill if she should be protesting, he said 'No. I don’t think so'. He added "I love watching women's soccer. They’re really talented."
Rapinoe is a maverick. Even if it would be great to see France upset El Imperio in Friday's quarterfinal, it would mean losing Rapinoe from the tournament, and that would be a massive loss for everyone.
UPDATE: On Wednesday afternoon, Trump unleashed a trademark twitter tirade in Rapinoe's direction:
