Just as he did duringColin Kaepernick’s kneeling protest in the NFL, PresidentDonald Trumpis criticizing soccer starMegan Rapinoe’s decision to stay silent during the national anthem as her teamheads into the quarterfinalsof the World Cup.
Rapinoe, co-captain of the U.S. women’s soccer team, has declined to sing along with her teammates as “The Star-Spangled Banner” plays before each match.
Trump, 73,toldThe Hillthis weekthat he did not find her protest — which is meant to highlight racial injustice and police misconduct in America — appropriate. But he did praise the rest of her team.
“I love watching women’s soccer,” he said. “They’re really talented.”
According toYahoo Sports, Rapinoe was the first white athlete and the first female athlete to kneel.
The U.S. Soccer Federation, however, fought back against her protest, releasing a statement that claimed it had an “expectation” for its players to stand and later enacting a policy that required them to do so in March 2017,ESPN reported.
Rapinoe responded with a statement of her own, agreeing to follow the new rules.
“That said, I believe we should always value the use of our voice and platform to fight for equality of every kind,” she said,according to ESPN.
Even so, shetold Yahoo Sportsin May: “I’ll probably never put my hand over my heart. I’ll probably never sing the national anthem again.”
Megan Rapinoe (right).Kevin C. Cox/Getty
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Rapinoe also offered some choice words for Trump in that same interview, calling him “sexist,” “misogynistic,” “small-minded,” “racist” and “not a good person.” She said she was a “walking protest when it comes to the Trump administration.”
“You can’t be kneeling for the national anthem. You have to respect our flag and our country. I want that as president and I’d want that as a citizen,” hetoldCBS This Morningin February.
In hisHillinterview this week, Trump said he was not informed enough about pay discrimination between men and women in soccer to take a position.
More than two dozen members of the U.S. women’s national team filed suite against the USSF in March for gender discrimination, claiming they were paid less than men.
Rapinoe, along with stars like Alex Morgan and Carli Lloyd, was named as a plaintiff in the suit.
A rep for Rapinoe did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
source: people.com
