Megan Rapinoe—co-captain of the U.S. women's national soccer team—has some experience publicly slamming President Donald Trump.
In a recent interview she didn't hesitate to criticize him again.
Rapinoe called Trump a "White nationalist." She also to toyed with the idea of running for President herself.
The U.S. soccer star, who helped lead the U.S. national team to World Cup victories in 2015 and 2019, has a bit of a history with the President.
When Rapinoe and company were charging through the World Cup bracket in 2019, one reporter asked if she'd uphold tradition when her team was asked to visit the White House.
Her terse answer—"I'm not going to the f*cking White House"—was enough to make waves on the internet and elicit an angry response from Trump and his supporters.
Nearly a year later, Rapinoe sat down with Vice and showed that spirit is still fully intact.
Though in the recent interview, she took the time to elaborate further.
"Now, obviously, we have a White nationalist, I think, in the White House, and the spewing of hate and the 'othering' of the rest of the country has only led to more rift between people and more despair and more anxiety and more fear going forward."
"There's been nothing to ease Donald Trump's base, really. There's been nothing."
"It's not like he's given them a bunch of jobs. It's not like he's made life really better for them. He's just given them this false reason why maybe they're not happy with their lives. There's been no sort of path forward."
The interview moved on to a question about Rapinoe herself.
When asked if we could ever expect to see "M. Rapinoe" on the presidential ballot, she began her response with a heavy exhale before moving on to a straight up answer.
"I'm not totally shutting the door but it seems wild."
Though it didn't take long for that hesitancy to subside.
Rapinoe pondered how she would handle a stint in the "biggest, baddest post."
"Okay I could be the President but then I get to, like, pick everyone else who's way smarter and way more qualified and, like, you know, way better at everything to actually do the things."
"I'm not here being like I'm the smartest, I should be the President. I'm actually, like, I am wholly unqualified for probably any position in government. But I have that little bit of humility where I could be like, 'You do this, you do this, you do this.' "
Those responses garnered responses on Twitter.
Many enjoyed the idea of a Rapinoe vs. Trump competition of any kind.
Of course, there were others who felt Rapinoe's political energy was best used elsewhere.
With the presidential election only five months away, Rapinoe would have to get moving quickly to turn those fantasies into reality.
The book The National Team: The Inside Story of the Women Who Changed Soccer is available here.
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