Former President Donald Trump railed against the U.S. women’s national soccer team Sunday night after the team’s World Cup hopes ended in a shootout loss to Sweden.
“The ‘shocking and totally unexpected’ loss by the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team to Sweden is fully emblematic of what is happening to the our once great Nation under Crooked Joe Biden,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Sweden won the match on penalties, after the game was tied 0-0 at the end of extra time. Retiring star forward Megan Rapinoe unexpectedly missed a penalty and goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher thought she had saved Sweden’s game-winning penalty, but it had actually crossed the goal line by less than a millimeter.
Trump went on to specifically call out Rapinoe, writing: “Many of our players were openly hostile to America – No other country behaved in such a manner, or even close. WOKE EQUALS FAILURE. Nice shot Megan, the USA is going to Hell!!! MAGA”
Trump and Rapinoe have feuded since she announced she would not visit the White House in 2019 if the team won the World Cup, which they went on to do. In interviews after the massive win, Rapinoe sharply criticized Trump, saying, “I think that he is trying to divide so he can conquer, not unite so we can all conquer.”
In response to Rapinoe’s declaration that she would not visit the White House as is custom, Trump said that “Megan should never disrespect our Country, the White House, or our Flag, especially since so much has been done for her & the team.”
In 2021, Trump alleged that the U.S. would have won gold—instead of bronze—at the Tokyo Olympics if the team, “headed by a radical group of Leftist Maniacs, wasn’t woke.”
”The woman with the purple hair played terribly and spends too much time thinking about Radical Left politics and not doing her job!,” he said of Rapinoe at the time.
Trump’s criticism of Rapinoe and the team Sunday followed remarks by a handful of right-wing critics who have also taken issue with some of the players’ advocacy efforts.
“Team USA’s downfall was delivered by anti-America, anti-woman activist Megan Rapinoe’s EMBARRASSING free kick here,” tweeted conservative commentator Benny Johnson.
Far-right internet personality Ian Miles Cheong dubbed Rapinoe “Captain Woke” and wrote that “despite all her dramatic flairs and supposedly progressive antics, she ended her illustrious career with an epic flop.”
One user called for Rapinoe to be investigated following her game play.
“After watching this video, you’ll have a hard time convincing me that Rapinoe didn’t throw America’s shot at the World Cup for some of that ‘equal pay,’” bemoaning that she “constantly bitched” about equal pay.
Rapinoe helped spearhead the fight for compensation equal to the U.S. men’s team. Those efforts cumulated in a historic collective bargaining agreement with the men’s team and a $24 million settlement that included backpay for previous World Cup prize money.
Speaking to reporters after Sunday’s loss, Rapinoe—who announced her retirement following the World Cup in July—said “it’s tough to go out obviously like this.”
“That’s the way that you know, the game goes, and that’s the way life goes,” she added. “And I feel grateful for this moment still, to be able to have played in another one and had this experience. And yeah, this is life.”
