Soccer star Megan Rapinoe condemned last week’s riot at the U.S. Capitol building, saying it revealed America’s “true colors.” The co-captain of the women’s national soccer team on Tuesday accused President Trump of stirring up a mob that ultimately attacked the Capitol in a riot that left five people dead.
“It’s just striking how horrible it was, how insane it was, from the climate in the country being such that we have our political leaders, our chief political leader, inciting an actual, real-life, murderous insurrection against his own government, against his own people, against his own party,” Rapinoe, 35, told reporters in a news conference.
“To see where we’ve come in these four years has been devastating and also, hopefully, the final straw for so many people to really understand the reason we are here is because we never actually had a reckoning with what our country really is,” she added. “This is America. Make no mistake about it. I think we showed very much our true colors.”
Rapinoe said “unleashing a white supremacist mob” is “nothing new” in the U.S. She said the motivations of the mostly White crowd that stormed the Capitol were clear.
“Hopefully this the last layer we needed to rip off, although it’s been abundantly clear for a number of 100 years what the real issue is: This was about white supremacy and holding up white supremacy,” she said.
The two-time World Cup champion said Mr. Trump should get reprimanded, as House Democrats look to impeach the president for a second time.
“If we do not punish this and investigate this to the fullest extent, it only encourages more of this to happen,” she said.
“Hopefully, the lawmakers will have the courage to do what needs to be done and everyday citizens, as well, will understand that we have a part to play in it just as everyone else does,” she added. “This is a huge stain on the country but hopefully an opportunity for us to move forward in the way that we need to”
Rapinoe, who is openly gay, has been critical of the current administration. In a 2019 interview with Yahoo Sports, she said she considers herself to be “a walking protest when it comes to the Trump administration” because of “everything I stand for.” Before and after winning the World Cup in 2019, she voiced her refusal to go to the White House with her championship team.
Rapinoe was one of the early supporters of former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick after he began protesting during the national anthem to call attention to police brutality and racial inequality. She started kneeling during the national anthem in 2016. She has also fought for pay equality.
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