U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe said there has been tension with her parents over their political beliefs.
The two-time World Cup champion who feuded with President Trump during the tournament this summer said she thinks her father backed the president in the 2016 election.
“I think my dad voted for Trump and I’ll say: ‘I don’t get it. How are you simultaneously as proud as punch of me, and watching Fox News all the time, [who are doing] takedowns of your daughter?’ That’s why I’m like: ‘You guys need to go to therapy,’” she told the Guardian of her parents.
She said her mother, a waitress, and her father, who runs a construction company, should be “really progressive,” based on the lessons of equality they instilled in their children growing up and their support of Rapinoe and her twin sister, both lesbians, but “they’re not.”
Rapinoe, 34, said she’s had “major blow-ups” with her parents but they remain close.
“I’m always saying: ‘You guys should really be Democrats!’ But they’re not, so what’s happening?”
Rapinoe snubbed a potential visit to the White House before the women’s national team won the World Cup in France. Her comments prompted Trump to tell Rapinoe to win the tournament before talking trash about him. He also criticized Rapinoe for protesting during the national anthem.
