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When it comes to Donald Trump – on anything – is he a leader or follower?
Trump’s latest outburst came after the U.S. Women were upset by Sweden in the World Cup round of 16. After winning in 2015 and 2019, the women were still favored but weakened by inexperienced players and injuries.
They shouldn’t have lost, but how many times have we said that about one of our teams without taking our ignorance and prejudice to a social media that is more responsible for dividing this country than Trump.
He cheered Megan Rapinoe, one of the greatest players and champions in her sport’s history, after she led the run to the World Cup in 2015, the year before he was president, and 2019, when he was the president.
Now, after Joe Biden gave Rapinoe the Presidential Medal of Freedom – the same award bestowed by Barack Obama on Dean Smith – Trump has turned against her with one of the most vitriolic, nonsensical rants of his abusive political career, which is saying a lot.
Is it because Rapinoe is gay and supported the rights of transgender young people, or because she took a knee for the National Anthem in support of NFL activist Colin Kaepernick, another athlete Trump completely trashed mainly because he is a black man standing up for social justice?
Or is he doing it because he wants to unleash so much more hatred in this country that he thinks those so-called patriots will send him back to the White House? So is Trump leading them to do it, or have they taken his spoken racism, anti-Semitic and white nationalism and further emboldened the twice-impeached and so far three-times indicted leader of the Republican Party?
As usual, Trump is lying when he claims the U.S. Women’s team is split over its support of Rapinoe. By all accounts, her teammates love her and agree that they all didn’t do the work needed to win another Cup. So, she has purple streaks. What is under Trump’s orange comb-over and all that hair spray?
Trump spits out “woke” with every blast he levels. Does he know what that really means? A hundred years ago, woke meant being alert to racial injustice. Now, it has spread to sexism, religious freedom and, mainly, because woke is a synonym for alleged social and political unfairness.
It’s amazing how many high-profile politicians with Ivy League educations spew words that actually define them. And they don’t care.
Trump ought to play tennis against himself, that’s how much he has changed sides the last 10 years. Yes, he used to be Democrat and progressive. Now more staunch pro-life conservatives swear by whatever he says.
Featured image via Associated Press/Hamish Blair
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