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Piers Morgan criticized former American women’s soccer star Megan Rapinoe for what he described as her “silence” on the current situation involving the Iranian women’s soccer team, calling it “hypocritical” given her open support for transgender athletes in women’s sports.
Morgan’s comments came in response to a New York Post op-ed highlighting Rapinoe’s silence that was published on X.
Megan Rapinoe attends the game between Indiana Fever and New York Liberty on May 18, 2024 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. (Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images)
“The silence on this from Rapinoe, and so many so-called ‘feminists’ like her, is so telling, damning and hypocritical,” she wrote in her post. “They would rather campaign for biological men to destroy women’s sport than campaign for these heroic young athletes to help save their lives.”
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The Iranian women’s soccer team came into the spotlight after players appeared to silently protest the national anthem during the team’s opening match at the Women’s Asian Cup in Australia earlier this month. However, in the next two matches before being eliminated, the team sang and saluted during the Iranian anthem.
A media frenzy ensued, concerned for the well-being of players and coaches after they would inevitably have to return to Iran amid the joint US-Israeli military campaign against the country.
President Donald Trump encouraged the Australian government to grant the team asylum. Seven members of the team had accepted humanitarian visas allowing them to stay permanently in Australia, but one has since changed his mind.
Iran’s players during their national anthem before the Women’s Asian Cup soccer match between Iran and the Philippines in Robina, Australia, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (Dave Hunt/AAPImage via AP)
Rapinoe has not appeared to comment publicly on the situation.
MEGAN RAPINOE RIDICULES US MEN’S HOCKEY TEAM, TRIUMPHS OVER ‘TRASH’ COMMENT ABOUT WOMEN’S TEAM: ‘YOU’RE A CLOWN’
Last month, during an episode of her podcast, “A Touch More,” Rapinoe defended the U.S. women’s ice hockey team while criticizing the men’s team and Trump for the phone call they had after the team’s gold medal victory in Milan Cortina.
“The United States men’s hockey team in its moment of glory, childhood dreams come true, a once-in-a-lifetime, sensational achievement, was ruined because it allowed itself to be totally co-opted by a clown. And now, you’re a clown. You look like a clown,” he began, referencing Trump’s comment about having to invite the women’s team to the State of the Union address.
“Why don’t you respect yourself more than the fact that that moment is taken advantage of by someone who, for no reason, just takes a big hit and attacks women who did the exact same thing as you?”
Rapinoe, an outspoken critic of Trump and his policies, has also previously expressed support for transgender athletes. In a 2023 interview with Time magazine, Rapinoe said that I would support a trans athlete being inducted into the USWNT, adding that she didn’t see it as “taking the place of a ‘real’ woman.”
Former OL Reign forward Megan Rapinoe (15) and midfielder Jessica Fishlock (10) march onto the field before a game against the North Carolina Courage at Lumen Field on Oct. 1, 2023. (Stephen Brashear/USA TODAY Sports)
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“Absolutely,” he told Time. “You’re taking the place of a ‘real’ woman” – that’s the part of the argument that’s still extremely transphobic. I see trans women as real women. What you’re automatically saying in the argument (you’re already saying it to yourself) is that you don’t believe these people are women. Therefore, they are taking the other place. I don’t feel that way.”
she also has previously criticized the Save Women’s Sports movement.
Due to her previous outspoken comments, Rapinoe has faced overwhelming backlash on social media.
In her latest podcast episode, which aired Thursday, Rapinoe did not appear to publicly comment on the Iranian women’s soccer team. She did talk about the current collective bargaining agreement negotiations in the WNBA, which she compared to the “fight for equal pay” championed by the U.S. women’s soccer team, which resulted in a historic agreement in 2022.
