Do we like Megan Rapinoe?
Our score: 8 out of 10. Years of backing LGBTQ+ people, women and racial justice at real cost to her popularity, with only a paid-promo wobble and a clumsy joke to mark it.
Megan Rapinoe grew up in conservative Redding, California, and played college ball at the University of Portland before becoming the face of the US women's team. She also became one of the sport's loudest voices for equality, and she has been involved with LGBTQ+ groups like GLSEN and Athlete Ally.
In 2016 she knelt during the anthem in a nod to Colin Kaepernick, and U.S. Soccer said it did not agree with her choice. She told Sports Illustrated she knew what it's like to look at the flag and not have all your rights. That was a genuine career risk, taken before it was fashionable.
She was also among the players who took U.S. Soccer to court over pay. In 2022 the federation settled for $24 million and committed to equal pay going forward. That same year President Biden gave her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and she said she was humbled and wanted to keep fighting for the freedoms of all people.
This year has been messier. After the US men's hockey team laughed along on a call with Trump, she ridiculed them on her podcast, and women's hockey star Hilary Knight called the joke distasteful. Where you land depends on whether you read it as fair political mockery or as a cheap shot at athletes.
In March, Piers Morgan accused her of hypocrisy over her silence on the Iranian women's team, whose players were branded traitors back home for staying silent during the anthem. She then praised their bravery on her podcast and said she supported their asylum decisions. Fair to say it took her a while, though she never wavered on the substance.
The harm check comes up clean. On The View in July she argued that going after trans people in sports is a wedge issue and an attack on women in society, and she has stood by trans inclusion for years. Nothing turned up of her platforming conspiracy theories or working with people who push harm, and her new show is a Vox Media interview podcast.