U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe said she would only accept invitations to visit Washington or have conversations with people who believe the same things she does.
“Yes to AOC, yes to Nancy Pelosi,” Rapinoe said Tuesday about which people she would accept invitations to visit Washington from. “Yes to the bipartisan Congress, yes to Chuck Schumer, yes to anyone else that wants to invite us and have a real, substantive conversation, and that believes in the same things we believe in.”
Rapinoe had previously accepted invitations from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Chuck Schumer to visit Congress.
The 34-year-old member of the U.S. women’s national soccer team added in her interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper that she and her teammates did not want to accept an invitation to the White House because they did not want to give a platform to President Trump.
“Every teammate I’ve talked to specifically about it would not go,” she said. “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 life. I don’t think we want that to be co-opted or corrupted by this administration.”
Rapinoe has traded barbs with Trump throughout the World Cup, starting with her saying she is “I’m not going to the f—— White House.”
Trump responded that Rapinoe needs to “win first” before she could even talk about a White House visit.
….in our Country’s history, and the poverty index is also best number EVER), leagues and teams love coming to the White House. I am a big fan of the American Team, and Women’s Soccer, but Megan should WIN first before she TALKS! Finish the job! We haven’t yet….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 26, 2019
