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Politico
Politico
Politics
Matt Berg

Trump taunts defeated U.S. women's national team

United States' Megan Rapinoe (right) reacts with her teammates following their loss to Sweden in their Women's World Cup round of 16 soccer match in Melbourne, Australia, on Aug. 6, 2023. | Scott Barbour/AP Photo

There's a clear culprit behind the shock ouster of the United States from the ongoing Women's World Cup, at least in the mind of Donald Trump: President Joe Biden.

The top-ranked American women were defeated Sunday on penalty kicks by Sweden in the tournament's round of 16, the earliest exit ever for the U.S. team. Trump, the former president and top-of-the-polls candidate for the 2024 Republican White House nomination, wrote on his social media platform Sunday night that "the ‘shocking and totally unexpected’ loss by the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team to Sweden is fully emblematic of what is happening to the our once great Nation under Crooked Joe Biden."

It's not the first time Trump has sparred with the nation's top soccer stars. He was president in 2019 when the women's national team won the previous Women's World Cup and traded barbs at the time with star Megan Rapinoe, who had declared in advance that she would not attend any White House visit if her team won the tournament.

Rapinoe, playing in her final Women's World Cup game, was among the American players to miss a penalty in Sunday's game. Trump was quick to pile on to the U.S. star.

“Many of our players were openly hostile to America - No other country behaved in such a manner, or even close. WOKE EQUALS FAILURE. Nice shot Megan, the USA is going to Hell!!! MAGA,” he wrote.

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