Right-wing media celebrate U.S. women's national team's elimination from the World Cup

Written by Madeline Peltz

Published

Right-wing media figures reacted with glee after the U.S. women’s national team was eliminated from the FIFA World Cup early Sunday morning. The team missed the chance to compete in the quarterfinals after losing a penalty kick shootout to Sweden. Since the beginning of the tournament, conservative pundits have been lashing out, angry that some members stayed silent during the playing of the national anthem ahead of their opening match against Vietnam.

Star player Megan Rapinoe, an advocate for LGBTQ rights and women’s equality in sports, has long been a target of right-wing hostility. She announced in July she would be retiring from professional soccer at the end of this season.

  • On Fox & Friends Weekend, co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy said the team’s elimination was “karma.”
  • Turning Point USA’s Benny Johnson said, “Every self-respecting American should be rejoicing in the Megan Rapinoe-led Team USA total failure.” He also described Rapinoe as a “disgrace” and “anti-American.” 
  • Charlie Kirk listed the U.S. women’s national team among other brands that have been the target of right-wing media outrage campaigns and added they “all allowed wokeness, -isms, and the purple hair types to destroy their brands and distract from previous success.” He also tweeted the video of Rapinoe’s missed kick and wrote “Pride comes before the fall, Megan.”
  • Anti-Muslim bigot Laura Loomer wrote she was “So happy to see the women’s US soccer team lose at the Women’s #WorldCup. What an embarrassment our athletes have become. I’m very happy another country will take that victory away from our country’s soccer team.” 
  • Right-wing blog The Post Millennial shared the video of Rapinoe saying her best memory of women’s soccer was fighting for equal pay, adding “What. A. Loser.” 
  • Neo-Nazi collaborator Jack Posobiec repeatedly mocked Rapinoe on Twitter and quote tweeted a video of her crying after their loss, adding, “Meme magic is back. The signs are all around. Trump will win.” 
  • The Blaze’s Sara Gonzales wrote “I’m gonna be honest, I really enjoy seeing Megan Rapinoe cry.” 
  • Right-wing blog Breitbart led its homepage with the headline “CAREER ENDS WITH ELIMINATION HUMILIATION.”
  • Right-wing troll Catturd wrote that he “can’t stop laughing” after “anti-American USA woke women's soccer team has been eliminated and Megan Rapinoe is the cause of it.” 
  • Piers Morgan mocked President Joe Biden’s tweet in support of the women’s national team, saying, “They just put in their worst ever World Cup performance and most of them refused to sing the National Anthem. Who did they make proud, exactly?”
  • Outkick’s Clay Travis took an anti-transgender approach to criticizing the team, deriding them as “far left wing politics-laden team” and suggesting that they should “let dudes pretending to be women take the women’s spots like Megan Rapinoe wants.” 
  • The Blaze’s Jason Whitlock rooted for Sweden as the game played out.