After the U.S. women’s national soccer team defeated Sweden in the round of 16 on Sunday, conservative media celebrities and figures, including former President Donald Trump, are celebrating.
Even though Sweden’s goalie had to make five saves as a result of the U.S. dominating play and hitting the woodwork repeatedly, Sweden ultimately prevailed 5-4 on penalties when Lina Hurtig’s penalty kick just missed the line by a few centimeters.
The team, who had won the previous two competitions, suffered their earliest World Cup exit ever as a result of the defeat.
Following the game, prominent Republicans, including the former president and current front-runner, attacked the squad, particularly veteran Megan Rapinoe, who missed a vital penalty kick.
The U.S. team’s defeat by Sweden, according to Trump in a post on Truth Social, “is fully emblematic of all that is happening to our once magnificent Nation under Crooked Joe Biden.”
No other nation behaved in such a manner, or even close to it, he said on Sunday. “Many of our players were openly hostile to America,” he wrote. “WAKING UP MEANS FAILURE. Megan, nice shot. The USA is going to hell.
Megyn Kelly, a former Fox News anchor, also attacked Rapinoe on her show.
“After missing the critical penalty kick, longtime team captain and activist Megan Rapinoe was grinning and laughing to herself. In general, this team’s performance was awful from the beginning, she stated last week on “The Megyn Kelly Show.”
“They wore American flag-adorned uniforms, but they showed no respect for our values. Therefore, I’m happy for them that they lost; good, I’m delighted you fell. I don’t support you because you oppose America, Kelly remarked.
On Monday night’s episode of “The Ingraham Angle” on Fox News, host Laura Ingraham reiterated Kelly’s opinions.
Let this be a lesson for Rapinoe and many of her teammates: If you don’t support America, or at least are not perceived to support America, don’t expect for America to blindly back you either, Ingraham said. “I know a lot of folks are outraged that anyone could be glad about this outcome, but let this be a lesson for Rapinoe and a lot of her teammates.
Since joining the U.S. Women’s National Team in 2006, Rapinoe has contributed to the team’s two Olympic medals and two World Cup victories. She is almost equally well renowned off the field for her advocacy work for women’s equality and LGBTQ rights.
Rapinoe and four other members of the United States Women’s National Team filed a lawsuit with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the United States Soccer Federation in 2016 alleging discrimination based on gender. Then, in 2019, 28 teammates, including Rapinoe, filed a comparable case, alleging years of gender discrimination in salary, medical care, and workload.
In a settlement with the U.S. Soccer Federation agreed in February, the group of five players received $24 million in addition to the federation’s commitment to paying men and women equitably in all exhibition games, often known as friendlies and tournaments.
On Monday, Fox News commentator Jesse Watters blasted Rapinoe for “constantly kneeling” throughout the playing of the national anthem and denouncing injustice, racial profiling, and police brutality in the United States.
According to Watters, “her rude and self-centered style was divisive.”
The knees, the lack of a hand on the heart, and the celebration of ties, he said, “did not meet the high standards that the American public has for our athletes to conduct themselves.” He said, “When U.S. women’s soccer plays in the World Cup, we’re expecting the team to put its best foot forward.” There is a method for requesting a pay increase as well. People are left with a negative impression when sexism and math are neglected.
“Americans have a right to be proud of our athletes, particularly those who are proud of our country,” Watters continued, “but it’s hard to root for an athlete that disparages our country in the eyes of the world over and over again and again.”