Megan Rapinoe slams Donald Trump in bleak prediction of his second term as president
Retired soccer star Megan Rapinoe predicted everything from “general chaos” to a dystopian hell for transgender Americans, slamming Donald Trump in her dire prediction for the newly elected president’s second term.
“He tells everyone what he’s going to do and it’s really dark and it’s really sad and I don’t think anyone wants to live like that,” Rapinoe told her podcast and real-life partner, Sue Bird, on “A touch more.’
Rapinoe has always been critical of Trump, but sharpened her focus on the 45th president in 2022 when his hand-picked Supreme Court justices overturned Roe v. Wade, shifting the debate over reproductive rights to the states.
And while the Ballon d’Or Féminin winner and World Cup champion admits she is not “personally afraid” of Trump’s second term, she is afraid of marginalized populations.
‘I’m nervous, but I’m also hopeful. “I believe in people and I certainly believe in women and I believe that people want better than the grim, dark, just violent reality that Donald Trump has laid out very clearly for us,” she said.
Rapinoe has always been critical of Trump, but sharpened her focus on the 45th president in 2022
“I feel overwhelmed by the reality that’s going to be a Trump presidency, which we’ve seen before, so I don’t feel like I’m saying anything new, but the reality where anything crazy could happen any day, I think that’s real overwhelming.
“I think I don’t feel so much personally scared because I think we live in a very progressive place, we’re incredibly privileged in our place in the world and life and, you know, financially and all these things. things,” she continued.
“I think the fear just extends to people in general who are really going to be affected by it. I think about all my trans friends and people I know and trans kids. I’m thinking about the potential of mass deportations if that happens, and kind of general chaos.”
Former football player Megan Rapinoe (left) and former basketball player Sue Bird (right) are not only partners, but podcast co-hosts on their weekly program entitled ‘A Touch More’
During his presidential bid, Trump promised to impose sweeping restrictions and roll back civil rights protections for transgender students. And his administration can move quickly on one big change: Transgender students could be excluded from Title IX protections, which affect school policies regarding student use of pronouns, restrooms and locker rooms.
One ad that aired more than 15,000 times crystallized Trump’s position on the rights of transgender and non-binary Americans: “Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.”
In the U.S., 3.3 percent of high school students identify as transgender and another 2.2 percent are unsure about their gender, according to a survey from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released last month.
The study found that 72 percent of transgender and gender-questioning teens experienced persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness in the past year. These teens also reported a higher rate of bullying at school compared to their peers. About 1 in 4 transgender students said they had attempted suicide in the past year, according to the CDC.
Rapinoe’s feud with Trump began in 2019 when she showed disdain for his presidency during a series of interviews.
Things escalated before, during and after the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France, where Rapinoe won the Golden Ball and Golden Boot as the tournament’s top scorer and most valuable player.
When asked about a possible visit to the White House, Rapinoe adamantly declined, and Trump has publicly argued ever since.