Megan Rapinoe's World Cup Goal Celebration Is Now A Donald Trump-Trolling Meme

The way the U.S. women’s national soccer team star celebrated scoring against France in Friday's quarterfinals victory is going viral.
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Soccer star Megan Rapinoe’s World Cup goal celebration has been transformed into a meme that pokes fun at President Donald Trump.

The co-captain of the U.S. women’s national soccer team celebrated the first of two goals she netted in Friday’s 2-1 quarterfinals defeat of hosts France, which set up a semifinals clash against England on Tuesday, with some style:

Rapinoe, who is gay, began taking a knee during the national anthem before games in 2016 in solidarity with former NFL star Colin Kaepernick’s protest against police brutality and racial injustice.

A U.S. Soccer Federation rule change later forced all players to “stand respectfully” during the anthem. So, at the World Cup, Rapinoe has refused to sing along or put her hand on her heart. Last month, she told Yahoo Sports she was now “a walking protest when it comes to the Trump administration” because “of everything I stand for.”

Rapinoe’s “Player of the Match”-winning performance against France came the same week that Trump taunted the 33-year-old midfielder on Twitter for saying she would not visit “the fucking White House” if the team won the tournament.

“I am a big fan of the American Team, and Women’s Soccer, but Megan should WIN first before she TALKS!” Trump wrote Wednesday. “Finish the job! We haven’t yet invited Megan or the team, but I am now inviting the TEAM, win or lose.”

Tweeters suggested Rapinoe’s celebration was the perfect clapback at the president:

This article has been updated to clarify Rapinoe’s reasons for protesting.

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