Only one player on the U.S. Women’s National Team, Carli Lloyd, stood for the country’s national anthem before the team’s match against Australia.
After being the only player to stand for the patriotic song, Lloyd went on to score her 10th Olympic goal, breaking a record previously held by Abby Wambach.
The team, which had a disappointing showing during the Olympics, knelt throughout the course of the games and received a bronze medal after an unexpected loss to Canada.
Former President Trump slammed the move and argued that focusing on politics led to the lackluster results.
“Woke means you lose, everything that is woke goes bad, and our soccer team certainly has. There were, however, a few Patriots standing. Unfortunately, they need more than that respecting our Country and National Anthem. They should replace the wokesters with Patriots and start winning again,” Trump said in a statement after the match.
The team’s decision to kneel has been led by Megan Rapinoe, who has not taken part in the national anthem since 2016.
Previously, Rapinoe described that her reason for kneeling was to demonstrate against racial profiling and police brutality.
“I haven’t experienced over-policing, racial profiling, police brutality or the sight of a family member’s body lying dead in the street. But I cannot stand idly by while there are people in this country who have had to deal with that kind of heartache. There is no perfect way to protest. I know that nothing I do will take away the pain of those families. But I feel in my heart it is right to continue to kneel during the national anthem, and I will do whatever I can to be part of the solution,” she wrote in a 2016 essay.
However, Trump specifically slammed Rapinoe’s performance.
“The woman with the purple hair played terribly and spends too much time thinking about Radical Left politics and not doing her job!” he said.
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for the Star News Network. Follow Cooper on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Carli Lloyd” by Carli Lloyd.
