Megan Rapinoe says women's sports are facing 'regression' of 'equal rights' in new Kamala Harris interview
You thought Kamala Harris was done after getting summarily beaten in the 2024 presidential election by Donald Trump? Think again.
The former vice president is right back at it, laughing it up with friends, discussing her future in politics, and avoiding any and all difficult questions she does not have prepared answers to.
On Thursday, Harris joined former US women’s soccer player and political activist Megan Rapinoe for a fawning new interview on "Why Are You Like This?" where she touched on important questions, like, "Why are you so amazing?"
"You could do anything, you’re brilliant, and you’re talented, and you’re beautiful, and you’re smart, and you’re funny and you’re all these things," Rapinoe said in an incredible moment of journalism. The context for this question is Rapinoe's wondering why Harris chose to go into politics because she would be reminded that she’s "still a woman" and "still black."
Her answer? Well, not much. Determination, enjoying hard work, and some barrier breaking, of course. As for her upbringing, Harris said that she was taken to "marches" in a "stroller" by her parents, which she associates with her educational and political choices later on.
While the interview is light on important topics around women’s sports, Rapinoe couldn’t help herself when talking about her own experiences and what we’ve supposedly lost since her playing career ended.
"I’m thinking about my own experience being a female athlete, and I went through, in the prime of my career, just the most historic time in women’s sports," she said. "I mean, it was crazy in the best ways. We saw a huge amount of progress, which has led into a pretty significant regression in terms of just equal rights and people’s rights in general. I definitely think those two are tied."
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What rights have women in sports lost? Is she implying that because there are now limitations on males in women's sports, women are losing their rights?
The reality is precisely the reverse. Had a male athlete occupied Rapinoe's spot on the US women's soccer team, she would never have achieved the level of success and the accomplishments that defined her career.
Not to mention that male athletes are not prevented from playing sports, they're simply required to play sports against other males. That's the only reasonable and rational position, which is why Rapinoe opposes it so fiercely.
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Rapinoe then tries to tie women's sports being "different" to men's sports to governing "as a woman," to which Harris laughs aggressively, then responds with, "Well, I've always been a woman, so I don't know what to tell you," which about sums up the level of scintillating intellectual discussion present throughout the episode.
Harris then goes on a fascinatingly inept tangent, saying that in order to describe her experience as a woman in politics, she wants Rapinoe to close her eyes and picture someone based on four words: "the boy next door."
"Now you have a sense of what he looks like," Harris continues. He probably plays softball, he probably lives somewhere in suburban America. He's a good kid."
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Do boys play softball? What is she talking about?
Harris brings the comparison home by saying, "What four words together in our language would describe you or me?," then adds, "we don't have it."
Well, there are plenty of four-word phrases to describe Megan Rapinoe and Kamala Harris actually, just none that they would like.
Later in the interview, Harris says that "We have increasingly witnessed a concentration of wealth and power among a few, to the exclusion of the most, and that wealth and concentration being also a political power."
Obviously, Harris is excluded from this, despite being an extremely wealthy woman who just purchased an $8 million house in Malibu with a heated pool and in-ground spa. Joe Biden is excluded from this, despite his decades-long career in politics and his son, Hunter, using his influence with the former vice president and eventual president to increase his wealth. Barack Obama is excluded from this, despite owning multiple mansions, including a beautiful Martha's Vineyard estate.
As for whether the very wealthy Harris will run again for the 2028 nomination? She hasn't decided, she told Rapinoe. God help us all if she does.
The interview as a whole illustrates a central reason Harris fell short in 2024: her campaign and her party were, and continue to be, represented by figures such as Rapinoe. Who believe that males should play in women's sports and that every day is an opportunity for grievance. Harris has no meaningful insights to make about herself, politics, or how to improve the country. Only vague hand waving about the need to change things.
Whatever that might mean.
There's been no "regression" in women's rights in recent years, and if anything, the rise in popularity for sports like the WNBA has made it more obvious how important it is to protect those athletes. Both physically and in terms of competitive fairness. Rapinoe can't accept that, because it undermines her and Harris' worldview. Reality often does.