Megan Rapinoe defends herself against critics who say she is not ‘American enough’

U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe on Wednesday defended herself against critics accusing her of not being American enough to represent the nation in the Women’s World Cup, Yahoo Sport reported Wednesday.

“I think I am particularly American and very deeply American, if you want to talk about the ideals that we stand for and what we were founded on,” Rapinoe said. “Maybe you don’t agree with every single way that I do it or [what] gets discussed. I know I am not perfect.”

“But I know I stand for honesty and for truth and for wanting to have the conversation,” she continued. “And for looking at the country honestly and saying, ‘Yes, we are a great country and there are so many things that are amazing and I feel very fortunate to be in this country’ … But also that doesn’t mean we can’t get better.”{mosads}

Rapinoe, who has become a prominent critic of the Trump administration, made headlines last week after a video went viral of her saying she is “not going to the f—ing White House” if the U.S. women’s national team wins the World Cup in the final match on Sunday.

The women’s national team co-captain has also chosen to kneel during the national anthem before soccer matches, and opted against placing her hand on her heart or singing “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

“I’d never be able to do this in a lot of other places,” Rapinoe said of her decision to protest the national anthem. “But also that doesn’t mean we can’t get better. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t always strive to be better. I think this country was founded on a lot of great ideals but it was also founded on slavery. And I think we just need to be really honest about that and be really open talking about that so we can reconcile that and hopefully move forward and make this country better for everyone.”

Both Rapinoe’s protests during the national anthem and her comments about declining to visit the White House prompted outrage from the president and his supporters, who have labeled her actions disrespectful.

Rapinoe reaffirmed her stance on not wanting to visit President Trump’s White House last week, saying that she “stand[s] by the comments that I made.”

Trump hit back at Rapinoe, tweeting that “leagues and teams love coming to the White House” and that he is a “big fan of the American Team, and Women’s Soccer,” but warned that “Megan should WIN first before she TALKS! Finish the job!”