US Women's National Team Coach Says Players Won't Talk Politics After Trump Win

The head coach of the U.S. Women's National Team gave a refreshing response when asked about her team's political views after the re-election of President-Elect Donald Trump. 

After years of the USWNT under Megan Rapinoe turning into an activist organization that happens to play soccer, head coach Emma Hayes said this week that her team has no time to discuss politics. Sounds wonderful.

The USWNT is in its first international period of play since Trump was re-elected on November 5, with a scheduled match against the England National Team in London on Saturday, November 30. They then head to Holland to play the Netherlands on Tuesday, December 3. 

And when speaking to the media, Hayes was asked whether there'd been time during their preparations to talk about the election. "No," she said. "We don't. We definitely do not have time for conversations like elections.

"I sat next to one of the most competitive people I’ve ever met (Lindsey Horan). Lindsey will tell you about not winning on a couple of occasions this week in some of the (Cluedo) games we’ve had, including the league board. You can see in what she does that Lindsey’s all business.

"She only has time for things like that. She doesn’t want to sit and talk about things like politics with me."

United States coach Emma Hayes before the match against Germany in a women's football semifinal match during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Lyon Stadium on Aug. 6, 2024. Photo: Nir Elias/Reuters via USA TODAY Sports

USWNT Finally Learning Their Lesson?

The USWNT players made themselves so unlikable in recent years that many fans actively rooted against them in recent international competitions. Quite literally all they had to do to avoid it was not openly campaign for progressive political causes. They couldn't do it.

Maybe now they finally can.

The USWNT did at least provide another opportunity for sports media to prove its hypocrisy. Years and years of political discussions went uncriticized or even celebrated by left-wing media outlets. Then Christian Pulisic did a two-second "Trump dance" celebration and they lost their collective minds. Politics are fine to inject into sports, as long as they're the right ones.

Pulisic didn't even discuss politics, endorse a candidate, or go on a long-winded rant. And they still went ballistic. Former goalkeeper Tim Howard even questioned Pulisic's leadership ability because he thinks Trump is racist. Not a word against the USWNT or Rapinoe for supporting Joe Biden, who's made plenty of racist comments himself.

It's probably too late for them to entirely rescue their reputation, but Hayes' answer is at least a start.