Megan Rapinoe is not standing down.
The 33-year-old defended her comments after being on the receiving end of a critical Twitter rant by President Donald Trump.
On Thursday, Rapinoe spoke to reporters and her decision not to visit the White House following the ongoing 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France.
She also asked her teammates to think long and hard about not going as well.
“I’ll address it head on and then we can get to the soccer questions,” Rapinoe said Thursday, opening a press conference a day before the U.S. takes on the host nation in the World Cup quarterfinal. “I stand by the comments I made about not wanting to go to the White House, with the exception of the expletive – my mom would be very upset about that.
“Considering how much time and effort and pride we take in the platform that we have and using it for good and leaving the game in a better place and hopefully the world in a better place, I don’t think that I would want to go, and I think I would encourage my teammates to think hard about lending that platform or having it co-opted by an administration that doesn’t feel the same way or fight for the same things that we fight for.
“I’ll just leave it at that.”
Rapinoe said that “I’m not going to the f—ing White House” if the U.S. repeats as champions, to which Trump responded by stating he was inviting the team “win or lose” and said that Rapinoe “should never disrespect our country, the White House, or our flag.”
