Donald Trump Jr has echoed his father’s criticism of the US women’s football team by mocking former Ballon d’Or winner Megan Rapinoe after the forward condemned the media for their criticism of women’s sports.
The US lost their first game of this year’s Olympics to Sweden 3-0, which promoted a strong media backlash. The team also took the knee before the game to stand against racial injustice after athletes were permitted to make demonstrations.
In response to the media coverage, Rapinoe insisted that she “welcomes criticism” but believes the unfair critique of women’s sports “still needs to get better.”
In response to these words, Donald Trump Jr, who has been tipped to run for president in 2024, took to Twitter to mock the OL Reign star.
The 43-year-old wrote: “Hey Megan… maybe it’s [sic] you!”
This ridiculing comes after Trump Jr’s father also criticised the team at a rally in Phoenix, where he blamed the United States’ loss on “wokeism.”
Addressing a crowd of supporters, Trump said: "Woke politics takes the life and joy out of everything.
"Wokeism makes you lose, ruins your mind and ruins you as a person. You become warped. You become demented.
"The US women's soccer team is a very good example of what's going on. Earlier this week, they unexpectedly lost to Sweden, three to nothing.
“And Americans were happy about it. You proved that point before I even said it.”
Rapinoe admits that the team got a little bit inside their own heads against Sweden and that it was “do-or-die mode” from now on.
The team did bounce back immediately with a 6-1 win against New Zealand though and followed this up with a 0-0 draw against Australia to qualify for the quarter-finals.
They face the Netherlands tomorrow, who won Group F on goal difference, having scored 21 goals in just three matches.
The Dutch boast an imperious forward line that includes the likes of Lieke Martens and leading scorer Vivianne Miedema, who has notched eight goals so far in the competition.
The match is set to take place in Yokohama at 12:00 BST tomorrow.