Right-Wingers Slam Megan Rapinoe for Silence During Anthem

Soccer star Megan Rapinoe and the rest of the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team won their first World Cup match this year 13-0 over Thailand. But right-wingers and self-described patriots seemed more focused on the out star's decision not to sing the National Anthem before the Tuesday match.

Fox News covered the match with the headline "US soccer star Megan Rapinoe stays true to her word: Doesn't sing national anthem before Thailand match."

Robert J. O'Neill, a pundit who claims to be the Navy Seal who killed Osama bin Laden, tweeted he would no longer watch the World Cup based on Rapinoe's decision.

"Nice win ladies. Don't tell me how this ends up. I don't care," he wrote on Twitter while linking to the Fox News story.

Rapinoe, the first white professional athlete to take a knee during the anthem in 2016 in support of NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, said she would not sing the anthem as a form of continued protest after the U.S. Soccer Federation issued an edict that players must stand.

"I'll probably never put my hand over my heart," she told Yahoo News. "I'll probably never sing the national anthem again."

The haters who didn't focus on Rapinoe's anthem protest went after her on social media for excessive celebration during the rout of Thailand's team. Tapinoe did on-field pirouettes after scoring a goal duing the game.

But the freedom-loving set spent more energy calling for Rapinoe's ouster from the sport despite the team's continued success.

"Megan Rapinoe needs to be booted for her lack of patriotism. Why play for a country you hate, smh," wrote a Twitter user named Big Dawg, who describes himself as a conservative in his profile.

But not all reactions were negative.

"Megan Rapinoe is not singing the anthem (because she's not allowed to kneel) and I love her so much it hurts," wrote Meredith Clark, a news producer for Netflix's show Patriot Act.