'Respect the flag': Donald Trump lashes star in Twitter tirade

President Donald Trump has launched a Twitter tirade at America’s co-captain after her controversial remarks at the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

US Women’s National Team (USWNT) star Megan Rapinoe and the President are continuing to go round-and-round about protesting during the national anthem and visiting the White House.

On Wednesday morning, Trump fired back at Rapinoe for her comment about not wanting to visit the White House, using his very favourite social media platform, Twitter.

Rapinoe has chosen to stay silent during the national anthem to protest injustice and inequality, which she’s been doing for several years.

Her practice of silence has come into the spotlight with the USWNT in the Women’s World Cup, and Trump recently said that he doesn’t believe it’s appropriate for her to protest during the anthem.

The US are only two wins away from winning the Women’s World Cup after advancing to the semi-finals in highly controversial fashion.

But Rapinoe has shut down any chance of visiting the White House if they happen to lift the trophy.

Eight by Eight magazine released a months-old video of Rapinoe saying definitively, “I’m not going to the f---ing White House. ... We’re not going to be invited. I doubt it.”

That emphatic answer backs up what Rapinoe said before the tournament, that she would “absolutely not” attend a White House celebration in the event of a World Cup win. Fellow USWNT star Alex Morgan also said she would not attend.

Rapinoe, who drew a public condemnation from President Donald Trump for not putting her hand on her heart during the national anthem before a game, has made no attempt to hide her scorn for the Trump administration.

However, the latest saga has drawn a lengthy rant from the US President on Twitter.

As always, there’s a lot to unpack. Trump starts by talking about Rapinoe, but quickly pivots to the NBA, invoking the Golden State Warriors refusing to visit the White House after their NBA championship. He then mentions NBA commissioner Adam Silver wanting team owners to be called “governors” due to the slavery connection of the word “owner,” and goes off on a tangent about “Criminal Justice Reform,” “Black unemployment,” and the poverty index. None of that is about Megan Rapinoe.

He comes back to the topic at hand by professing his fandom for the “American Team,” chastises Rapinoe for mentioning a White House visit before the USWNT wins the Women’s World Cup, then he throws all of that out the window and invites the USWNT to the White House, win or lose.

Of course, he ends by scolding Rapinoe about being “disrespectful” through her protests, and telling her to “Be proud of the Flag that you wear.”

Of course, Rapinoe has already visited the White House, and been visibly proud of the flag that she wears. But things were a little different in 2015.

Rapinoe has already made her feelings about visiting this current White House abundantly clear, and it doesn’t seem like an invitation from the man she’s called ““misogynistic,” “small-minded,” and “racist” will change her mind.

And beyond all of that, that three-tweet thread was his second attempt. He had to delete them the first time around because he made a critical mistake in the first tweet, tagging a different Megan Rapino who is not the soccer player. (She even spells her name differently.) The mentions of this non-soccer Megan Rapino are likely a garbage fire now, but she was able to maintain her sense of humor and totally own the guy who made them that way.

Trump has somehow made an enemy of two different Megans Rapino/Rapinoe. That’s not easy to do.

With Liz Roscher - Yahoo Sports