Soccer champion Megan Rapinoe has been making the rounds with TV appearances since leading the U.S. Women's National Team to its fourth World Cup win earlier this summer. Since she went out and played excellent games even as Donald Trump put her on blast with his followers during the event by calling her "unpatriotic," talk and news hosts have been asking for her opinion on politics. On Saturday's The Van Jones Show Rapinoe called Trump's racist tweets about four Democratic congresswomen of color "disgusting," according to CNN.
"It's disgusting, to be honest," Rapinoe said. "To say it's disappointing--it doesn't even come close."
Last week, Trump told Reps. Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib to "go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came" although all four women are American citizens. His remarks set the stage for collective racism at a campaign rally in North Carolina where, when Trump invoked Omar's name, the crowd chanted, "send her back."
By Tuesday, the House of Representatives voted to condemn the language, but Trump dug in. By the weekend, he crafted another troubling tweet.
In her conversation with Jones, Rapinoe added that she was encouraged by the overwhelming condemnation of Trump's incendiary language.
"The more that we just are upset about it and don't accept that kind of behavior from all sides, then the better place we're going to be," the out athlete said.
During last month's World Cup, Trump went off on Rapinoe on Twitter after she responded in an off-the-cuff interview to being asked if she was excited about the possibility of visiting the White House. "I'm not going to the fucking White House," she replied, sending him into a tailspin on social media.
Despite Trump's intimidation tactics during her big event, Rapinoe went on to score three more goals in two matches and walked away with the World Cup's Golden Boot prize.