Megan Rapinoe Says Trump's Racist Tweets Are 'Disgusting'

Trump publicly called Rapinoe "unpatriotic" last month for refusing to bend to him. This weekend she was asked to comment on his ugly rhetoric.

Tracy E. Gilchrist

Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP of Editorial and Special Projects at equalpride. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.

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Tracy E. Gilchrist

July 21 2019 1:41 PM EST

July 21 2019 10:19 PM EST

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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.

\u201cI don\u2019t believe the four Congresswomen are capable of loving our Country. They should apologize to America (and Israel) for the horrible (hateful) things they have said. They are destroying the Democrat Party, but are weak & insecure people who can never destroy our great Nation!\u201d
— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1563710852

In her conversation with Jones, Rapinoe added that she was encouraged by the overwhelming condemnation of Trump's incendiary language.

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"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.