Megan Rapinoe thinks it's pointless to talk to Donald Trump: 'There are children locked up ... why would I faze him?'
Megan Rapinoe is not done with her victory lap.
The Golden Boot and Golden Ball winner as the top scorer and best player in the United States’ World Cup victory is thoroughly enjoying the celebration and the spotlight of a landmark victory.
In the buildup and during the US Women’s National Team’s dominant World Cup run, Rapinoe used the stage to draw attention to several issues, including equal pay for women, police brutality and LGBTQ rights.
Now that she and her teammates have delivered, she’s amplifying her stances.
Why won’t Rapinoe talk to Trump?
Some of her beliefs are in direct conflict with the policies of President Donald Trump. She famously drew the ire of Trump on Twitter for her vocal criticism of the president and has vehemently stated her stance on not visiting the White House.
Her passionate views have led some to ask: if you disagree so strongly with Trump, why not take the opportunity to spend time with him to express those views?
Rapinoe: Trump won’t listen
Rapinoe addressed that question in a New York Times interview published over the weekend. She simply doesn’t believe that Trump would listen.
“A lot of people have said, ‘Why don’t you make a demand of the president that he’ll sit down and talk with you if go to the White House?’” Rapinoe told the Times. “But I’m not going to be naïve and think that I’m going to sit down with Trump and he’s going to change his mind. There are children locked up at the border who are dying, and that’s not fazing him. So why would I faze him?”
Instead of giving the appearance of validating Trump’s policies by making a White House appearance, Rapinoe and her teammates opted instead to accept an invitation to visit Congress.
Asked if anybody on the team disagreed with speaking out against a White House visit, Rapinoe didn’t confirm that there was a player on a different page, but she has her doubts.
“I haven’t done the roll call, but I don’t think anybody’s interested,” Rapinoe said.
Why Rapinoe doesn’t stick to sports
And in case there was any confusion about Rapinoe’s stance on critics who tell her stick to sports, she made very clear her view on what she believes her role is as a public figure in the face of policies that she finds morally unjust.
Rapinoe told the Times that she’d seen feedback calling her protests that have included kneeling during the national anthem as disrespectful, inappropriate, anti-veteran and anti-police.
“I don’t understand that argument at all,” Rapinoe said. “You want us to be role models for your kids. You want us to endorse your products. You parade us around. It’s like, we’re not just here to sit in the glass case for you to look at. That’s not how this is going to go.”
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