Too bad we had someone like Colin Kaepernick playing soccer in the Women’s World Cup.
I’m a fan of international soccer — men’s and women’s. I was excited when the Women’s World Cup came along and I was proud the U.S. team won.
But having to put up with someone like Megan Rapinoe, who did all she could to turn her team’s victory into a “I hate Donald Trump” event, spoiled a lot of the enjoyment for me.
Rapinoe spent most of her time off the field dissing Donald Trump, dissing America, dissing the National Anthem and praising her left-wing political heroine, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Meanwhile, during her between-game interviews Rapinoe made sure everyone knew there were a whole lot of lesbians playing for the U.S. women’s soccer team.
No kidding, Megan.
Lesbians have been playing in women’s sports for a long time — golf, tennis, basketball and soccer. We, ah, already knew that. And anyway, so what?
But the worst thing Rapinoe did was to make America’s World Cup victory all about herself and her political angst about Trump, not about the triumph of her teammates or her country.
Of course the anti-Trump media were more than happy to fill the airwaves 24/7 with her bleeped-out Trump comments.
And if the women’s team had lost to the Netherlands last weekend in the final, Rapinoe and the liberal media would have blamed Trump for somehow causing them severe psychological distress.
On CNN Tuesday night, when she was asked if she had a message for the president, she turned to the camera and delivered this political crapola to the 13 people who still watch that collapsing channel:
“Your message is excluding people. You’re excluding me. You’re excluding people that look like me. You’re excluding people of color. You’re excluding Americans that maybe support you.”
Thanks for the deep political insight, Megan.
And the rest of us get the equal-pay-for-women-soccer-players thing, but an obnoxious style and spewing left-wing politics will not win women players much support from fans in the hinterland who still happen to love America.
Last week, the country Rapinoe dishonored honored her and her team with a ticker-tape parade.
When the National Anthem was played, her teammates put their hands over their hearts while Rapinoe, a brat to the end, put her hands behind her back and smirked.
I don’t care what Rapinoe says about Trump or the U.S. She’s allowed to say any nasty thing she wants. It’s America, whether she hates it or not.
But what Rapinoe did before, during and after the World Cup was different, much worse and more divisive for the nation than what Colin Kaepernick’s protests did in the NFL.
When the San Francisco QB refused to stand during the National Anthem to protest the unfair way he claimed police treated black people, he was taking a knee in the NFL — an American sport.
But soccer is a massively popular international sport.
By not singing the Anthem and not putting her hand over her heart, Rapinoe for all intents and purposes was saying “F-America” in front of the whole world.
The good news is that Rapinoe’s 15 minutes of shame is about over. It’s time for her to go back to kicking a soccer ball around for a living, not Trump.
It’s also time for her to try to grow up.
Michael Reagan is the son of President Ronald Reagan, a political consultant, and the author of “Lessons My Father Taught Me: The Strength, Integrity, and Faith of Ronald Reagan.” Visit his websites at reagan.com and michaelereagan.com.
