America Is ‘Proud’ of U.S. Women’s Soccer Team After World Cup Win, Says Trump

Ignoring controversy, president praises the athletes after their decisive victory

By PopZette Staff | July 7, 2019

President Donald Trump on Sunday enthusiastically congratulated the U.S. women’s soccer team after it took the World Cup by beating the team from the Netherlands in France.

And for now, he’s not commenting on the controversy surrounding the vow by star forward Megan Rapinoe never to step foot inside the Trump White House.

“Congratulations to the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team on winning the World Cup!” Trump tweeted.

“Great and exciting play. America is proud of you all!”

Members of the media asked the president later during the day whether members of the male and female soccer teams should earn the same amount of money for what they do.

The president replied, “I would like to see that, but you’ve also got to look at numbers … You have to look at who’s taking in what” and “see how they’re performing.”

“I don’t know what those numbers are,” Trump added. “And you have to see year ’round, how are they all drawing — what is the attendance for women’s soccer outside of World Cup. But I would like to see it.”

A couple of weeks ago, Trump said on that same issue, “I think a lot of it also has to do with the economics. I mean, who draws more? Where is the money coming in? I know that when you have the great stars like [Portugal’s Cristiano] Ronaldo and some of these stars … [They] get paid a lot of money, but they draw hundreds of thousands of people.”

Rapinoe is a captain of the team and was the top scorer.

She’s been an outspoken opponent of what she’s called systemic gender inequality in the United States.

Previously, Rapinoe took a knee during the playing of the national anthem — before changes to the rules banned the practice.

In 2016, Rapinoe talked about her controversial decision to kneel during the anthem with American Soccer Now.

“Being a gay American, I know what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties,” she told that outlet back then. “It was something small that I could do and something that I plan to keep doing in the future and hopefully spark some meaningful conversation around it.”

Recently, Rapinoe engaged in her own personal protest, refusing to sing or hold her hand over her heart during the playing of the national anthem before the team’s tournament games.

The president several weeks ago was asked about Rapinoe’s disrespect and whether or not it was appropriate during an interview with The Hill.

“No. I don’t think so,” he responded.

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This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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