American soccer star Megan Rapinoe has come under fire after she ignored the national anthem before the Women’s World Cup game against Thailand on Tuesday.
The Daily Caller reported that Rapinoe had previously said that she would ignore the national anthem as a “f*** you” to President Donald Trump, adding that she would “never put my hand over my heart” or sing the national anthem again.
“I’ll probably never put my hand over my heart,” Rapinoe said last month. “I’ll probably never sing the national anthem again.”
“Because I’m as talented as I am, I get to be here, you don’t get to tell me if I can be here or not,” she added. “So it’s kind of a good ‘f-you’ to any sort of inequality or bad sentiments that the [Trump] administration might have towards people who don’t look exactly like him. Which, God help us if we all looked like him. Scary. Really scary. Ahh, disturbing.”
Rapinoe stayed true to her word on Tuesday, as she was seen standing silently with a blank look on her face as her teammates sang the national anthem.
What a disrespectful woman.https://t.co/DEGTgoqdDS
— HvyMtlCnsrv (@BigMouthNov) June 12, 2019
Rapinoe had previously joined former NFL player Colin Kaepernick in taking a knee during the national anthem, but U.S. Soccer responded to this blatant show of disrespect by implementing a rule that players “stand and honor the flag.” Afterwards, Rapinoe expressed her outrage at U.S. Soccer for setting this rule.
“Using this blanketed patriotism as a defense against what the protest actually is was pretty cowardly. I think the NFL does it,” she said. “I felt like the statement from U.S. Soccer, and then the rule they made without ever talking to me, that was the same as what the NFL was doing – just to not have the conversation, to try to just stop me from doing what I’m doing instead of at least having a conversation, and trying to figure out a [solution] that makes sense for everyone.”
Rapinoe’s shows of disrespect to the U.S. have already come back to bite her, as Twitter users have been quick to slam her for what she has done.
so weird to have a scowl while your national anthem, the one that gave you the freedom to pretty much actually PLAY in this game @mPinoe #USWNT
— Swami (@SwamiG8R) June 11, 2019
After we all looked back last week on the incredible sacrifices and loss of life suffered on D-Day and remembered the American heroes who made victory possible while marking the 75th Anniversary— the timing of this move seems incredibly callous.
— Kari Lake Fox 10 (@KariLakeFox10) June 12, 2019
We’ve got a Kaepernick 2.0 over here…
You represent USA in international soccer competitions, and you choose to disrespect the National Anthem…
Very professional. That pink hair goes well with your ignorance.
Stick to soccer @mPinoe— Jairo Vera (@JairoEVera1) June 12, 2019
It’s always sickening to see someone disrespect our national anthem, so we could only hope that Rapinoe someday sees just how ignorant and despicable her behavior really is.
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