Following a bold display of defiance toward President Donald Trump, U.S. women’s soccer star Megan Rapinoe has now accepted an invitation from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) to tour Capitol Hill at any time the team wishes.
Ocasio-Cortez extended the invitation on June 28 after news the U.S. women’s soccer team had defeated France 2-1 in a World Cup match.
Rapinoe, co-captain of the team, accepted the invitation hours later. She said, “Consider it done [AOC].”
This comes after the president told Rapinoe to “never disrespect our country” in a tweet on June 26, after the co-captain said she would not visit the White House if her team wins the World Cup.
Responding to the comments, Trump took the opportunity to admonish the soccer star for conduct that he believes disrespects the White House, the flag, and the country.
He then extended an invitation to the U.S. women’s soccer team to visit the White House regardless of whether the team brings back the World Cup.
“We haven’t yet invited Megan or the team, but I am now inviting the TEAM, win or lose,” he said. “Megan should never disrespect our Country, the White House, or our Flag, especially since so much has been done for her & the team. Be proud of the Flag that you wear. The USA is doing GREAT!”
Rapinoe refused to concede and instead doubled down on her earlier comments on June 27. She said, “I stand by the comments that I made about not wanting to go to the White House, with the exception of the expletive—my mom will be very upset about that,” during a press conference in Paris.
“Using this blanketed patriotism as a defense against what the protest actually is was pretty cowardly. I think the NFL does it. I felt like the statement from U.S. Soccer, and then the rule they made without ever talking to me, that was the same as what the NFL was doing—just to not have the conversation, to try to just stop me from doing what I’m doing instead of at least having a conversation, and trying to figure out a [solution] that makes sense for everyone,” she told the news website.
“I’ll probably never put my hand over my heart. I’ll probably never sing the national anthem again,” she also said during the interview.
She gave her reasoning: “Because I’m as talented as I am, I get to be here, you don’t get to tell me if I can be here or not. So it’s kind of a good [expletive] you to any sort of inequality or bad sentiments that the [Trump] administration might have toward people who don’t look exactly like him.”
