Women’s soccer star Megan Rapinoe appeared to pity former President Donald Trump for gloating over Team USA’s failure to win a gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics.
“It’s a really sad dig into an old bag,” the 36-year-old midfielder told NBC News. “You’re rooting for people to do bad? Yikes.”
Initially, Rapinoe was reluctant to address derogatory comments the 45th president directed at her specifically.
“The woman with the purple hair played terribly and spends too much time thinking about Radical Left politics and not doing her job,” Trump said in a statement.
He added that “Woke means you lose” in reference to most of the team’s decision to kneel before games, which is intended to call attention to issues of social justice.
The purple-haired star told NBC that given the platform athletes have, it’d be “selfish” for them to be silent when they can inspire others.
“I think it’s important for everybody to do whatever they can to make the world a better place,” she added.
Rapinoe also said she was “super proud” her team for grinding through a “difficult tournament,” which took place on the other side of the globe during a pandemic. Team USA earned a bronze medal in Thursday’s 4-3 win over Australia, fueled by two goals from Rapinoe.
“We get to take a medal home from the Olympics, which is incredibly special,” she said.
Canada, which upset the U.S. squad on Monday, won the gold medal by beating Sweden on Friday.
Rapinoe famously said in 2019 she would not go to the “f------ White House” to celebrate winning the World Cup when Trump was in office. In April, the California native paid a visit to President Biden’s White House, where she said she felt like a “kid in the candy store.”
Trump is a known fan of the color gold, which is ubiquitous in his properties. One of his first orders of business upon moving into the White House was replacing the red curtains in the Oval Office with gold ones, Marie Clair reported.
