- Trump aimed swipe at USWNT
- They lost to Sweden on penalties
- Had won the tournament in 2015 and 2019
WHAT HAPPENED? Trump took to X, formerly known as Twitter, after the USWNT lost in the round of 16 on penalties. He wrote: “The shocking and totally unexpected loss by the US Women’s Soccer Team to Sweden is fully emblematic of what is happening to our once great nation under crooked Joe Biden.” The USWNT, of course, won the tournament in both 2015 and 2019 and Rapinoe insists she and her team-mates simply cannot win in the eyes of the former Republican president.
WHAT THEY SAID: Speaking to The Atlantic, she said: "What he’s saying is fake. It’s a compilation of hit words and hot-button words that don’t actually make any sort of sense or square with reality at all … I think, just in general, the way that our team was spoken about over the course of the tournament, it was fake. And it didn’t make sense to me: In 2019, we were ultra-confident, ultra-swaggy—and won everything.
"And even though we won, we did it in bad taste, according to our critics. This time, we weren’t confident enough, and we don’t have the right “mentality.” And so we lost. It’s just so disingenuous. There’s no way for us to win, and there’s no way for us to lose."
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Rapinoe is one of the most politically active footballers in the world, and has previously refused to sing the national anthem, while also kneeling in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
IN THREE PHOTOS:
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GettyWHAT NEXT? The USWNT play South Africa in September, and will be working under a different head coach after the resignation of Vlatko Andonovski.