Megan Rapinoe, on the heels of leading the United States to its fourth Women’s World Cup title, delivered a searing message for Donald Trump on Tuesday, telling the president that he needed to “do better for everyone,” including people like Rapinoe and minorities.
The US women’s soccer co-captain had been sitting for a one-on-one interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who noted the likelihood of Trump watching her appearance. “What is your message to the president?” he asked.
After taking a moment to ponder, Rapinoe turned directly to the camera and said: “I think that I would say that your message is excluding people. You’re excluding me. You’re excluding people that look like me. You’re excluding people of color. You’re excluding, you know, Americans that maybe support you.”
“You have an incredible responsibility as the chief of this country to take care of every single person and you need to do better for everyone,” she added.
As for a White House visit, Rapinoe reiterated her stance that she had no interest in such an event. “I would not go and every teammate I talked to would not go.”
“I don’t think anyone on the team has any interest in lending the platform that we’ve worked hard to build and the things that we fight for and the way that we live our lives—I don’t think we want that to be co-opted or corrupted by this administration.”
"Your message is excluding people. You're excluding me. You're excluding people that look like me. You're excluding people of color. You're excluding… Americans that maybe support you."
US Women’s National Team co-captain Megan Rapinoe's message to Pres. Trump. pic.twitter.com/4PbKx0hSxv
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) July 10, 2019
