Outnumbered panel calls USWNT “anti-American”
Fox News host says no one is interested in watching the World Cup — which is being broadcast on FOX
Published
Citation From the August 7, 2023, edition of Fox News' Outnumbered
EMILY COMPAGNO: After yesterday's stunning world cup elimination at the hands of Sweden, the U.S. Women's soccer team is now being accused of putting political activism ahead of winning. Their run came to an end after this moment from the team's most controversial player, Megan Rapinoe.
Rapinoe drew backlash from fans after she was spotted laughing after that crucial miss. But those chuckles soon turned to tears as the team suffered its fastest-ever exit from the World Cup stage. Now critics are calling out the women's national team for putting woke politics ahead of our country, with many pointing out the team's reluctance to sing for the national anthem. And Fox Sports analyst and former U.S. men's player Alexi Lalas said the women's woke politics are alienating Americans. “Don't kill the messenger. This U.S. women's national team is polarizing. Politics, causes, stances, and behavior have made this team unlikable to a portion of America. This team has built its brand and has derived its power from being the best and winning. If that goes away they risk becoming irrelevant." Michele, so grateful that you're here today and so curious what your thoughts are on this.
MICHELE TAFOYA: Well, you know what, I covered the women's Olympic soccer in 2012 in London and Manchester and all the rest. And it was a very patriotic team. It was a very easy-to-cheer-for my team. My daughter is an avid soccer player, was waking up in the middle of the night for all of these games, but she really didn't appreciate that they wouldn't sing. Now, some people have said to me, “It doesn't make them bad Americans for not singing," and I said, “No, that's not the point." And I'm all about freedom of expression. This is a shot of Megan Rapinoe kneeling at one point. They need to learn the lessons that I saw up front that the NFL and NBA learned. And that is when you go sort of anti-American on all of your fans, a lot of fans are very patriotic and you're going to lose them. And not only is it the anthem stuff, I mean, you're there on that platform, competing for the United States in the World Cup. It's not like you're on a pro team somewhere, you're competing for the United States of America and you're shunning the anthem and you're acting as though you're ashamed to be there representing your country, and yet that's your platform. That's why you're there — you're representing the nation.
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CARLEY SHIMKUS: Yeah, I mean, Megan Rapinoe certainly has her supporters who agree with her politically, and that's the thing about this, is that it's so unfortunate that things that shouldn't be political or divisive now are. What's the best thing about watching these international sports competitions — the Olympics, the World Cup? It's hearing the stories of the players who worked so hard, may have come from not very much but worked so hard to live out their dream and represent the country that they love. It's not that people necessarily are die-hards for wrestling or track and field or swimming or figure skating or soccer, it's they love to hear these stories. But when you inject partisan politics into it, whether it's kneeling for the national anthem or saying, “I'm not going to the f-ing White House," a lot of people who disagree with you just tune it out. And the really unfortunate thing about this is — I, for Fox and Friends four years ago, I went to France to do some coverage for the Women's World Cup.
STEVE DOOCY: You're welcome.
CARLEY SHIMKUS: Thank you for sending me. It was a lovely trip. And I can tell you that a mega-majority of soccer players are super die-hard patriotic and are so happy to be representing their country on the world stage. It's just the one or two players who aren't who kind of ruined the reputation for the whole entire team.
STEVE DOOCY: You know, and right now the United States is having a soccer moment. You know, we've never been a big — football, as they call it over there —soccer country. But right now you've got Lionel Messi, who is electrifying people who didn't even know they liked soccer. I still can't figure out what offsides means. I was a coach for five years. But you know what, you've got that going on and then you've got this going on. And I know the women's, the whole World Cup was on Fox, I don't know one person who was excited about watching it and then would talk about it the next day. I think maybe going forward, a condition of being on the national team is you should probably be a fan of the nation.