One of the country’s top soccer reporters believes that U.S. women’s soccer star Megan Rapinoe could have a future in politics.
Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl was asked this week about whether Rapinoe could have political ambitions, and he said that is something that is “interesting to think about.”
“When you look at what she talks about, how comfortable she is doing that, how important all this stuff is to her, using her platform…I wouldn’t be surprised eventually if that might be something that she thinks about,” Wahl said. “If she wants to pursue that, I think she could.”
Rapinoe has emerged as one of the most potent symbols of the anti-Trump resistance after she declared that she did not want to go to the “fucking White House” even if her team brought home its fourth Would Cup title.
The co-captain has refused to put her hand over her heart and sing the national anthem and made headlines before the World Cup when she kneeled during the national anthem in support of Colin Kaepernick.
Left-wing polling outfit Public Policy Polling actually polled a hypothetical presidential matchup between Rapinoe and Trump. The poll, released this week, had Rapinoe defeating Trump by a percentage point.
Rapinoe appeared on Rachel Maddow’s show on MSNBC this week and revealed that her girlfriend, WNBA and UConn legend Sue Bird, warned her that activists would start asking her to run for president: “My girlfriend actually just said, you need to be careful. They’re going to ask you to run for president. You need to slow your roll.”
“I want to be more impactful,” Rapinoe told Maddow. “I feel like the money where the mouth is the best way to go and trying to, yes, I guess leverage this moment but also understand there is something so much more.”
Rapinoe has indicated that she intends to compete in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Japan to help the U.S. women’s team attempt to become the first team to win a gold medal after winning the World Cup.
Though her focus will surely be on the Olympics in 2020, left-wing activists and pundits have indicated that Rapinoe’s potential endorsement in primary races could have an impact so long as Trump is in the White House.