SPORTS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WOMEN: “Megan Rapinoe on Thursday [6-27-19] tried to quiet a brewing feud with President Trump sparked by her pledge to skip any visit by the United States women’s soccer team to the White House after the World Cup. Ms. Rapinoe said she stood by her remarks, apologizing only for using a obscenity to express them, and urged her teammates to join her in any potential boycott…Ms. Rapinoe said she was ‘not interested’ in answering any more questions on the simmering controversy, and referred reporters to her many earlier comments about Mr. Trump and his administration’s policies. She was soon smiling and joking as the conversation shifted to soccer. Her comments came in a scheduled news conference on the eve of the United States team’s highly anticipated quarterfinal against host France in Paris, and one day after President Trump criticized her in a series of Twitter posts for her declaration that she and the team would not go to the White House if they won the World Cup.”
–Andrew Das, “Megan Rapinoe Digs In After Trump Criticism: ‘I Stand by the Remarks’,” The New York Times online, June 27, 2019