Megan Rapinoe sat down with Anderson Cooper on AC360 Tuesday night, and spoke directly to Trump.
Said Rapinoe: “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. I think that we need to have a reckoning with the message that you have and what you’re saying about Make America Great Again. I think that you’re harkening back to an era that was not great for everyone. It might have been great for a few people and maybe America’s great for a few people right now but it’s not great for enough Americans in this world, and … 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.”
In another part of the interview, Rapinoe defended protesting during the National Anthem: “I think that taking care of others, standing up for yourself and other people if they don’t have the ability to do so, is very uniquely American. I think everyone in America would say that and I think we have a rich history and a pride in saying that in those words and often times in doing that in the world. I don’t think anybody can deny the horrors of racism and Jim Crow and mass incarceration and what’s happening on the southern border and gay rights and women’s rights. A lot of the people that disagree with me would benefit greatly from a world that is better for everyone.”
“Protest is not comfortable ever,” she added. “It’s going to make people uncomfortable. It’s going to force people to look inward and question everything they thought they knew. It’s not convenient. It doesn’t feel good really for anyone, even in those moments kneeling those were, you know, some of the most crazy personal moments that I’ve ever had but that’s what it takes, progress is hard.”
