Megan Rapinoe Stands by Donald Trump White House Comments, Sorry for Cursing

Megan Rapinoe isn't backing down from her comments about not wanting to visit the White House and President Donald Trump if the United States women's national team wins the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. 

Per Yahoo Sports' Doug McIntyre, the USWNT co-captain reiterated her stance of not wanting to go to the White House but apologized for the language she used. 

Eight By Eight released a video on Tuesday in which Rapinoe used an expletive when asked if she was excited about potentially visiting the president after the World Cup:

Speaking to reporters in France on Thursday, Rapinoe said her remarks haven't had any negative impact on Team USA's locker room. 

She also addressed her popularity spike in France in the wake of those comments: "I think I was already popular before in France? I played here. ... They try not to like me, but I think they do."

USA head coach Jill Ellis told reporters the entire team supports Rapinoe and revealed how much what she said resonated in their locker room. 

Rapinoe noted in the Eight by Eight video she's not expecting the team to receive an invitation to the White House anyway. 

Per Andrew Das of the New York Times, the video was recorded in January during a cover shoot for the magazine but wasn't released until Tuesday. 

After being made aware of Rapinoe's remarks, Trump went on a Twitter rant in which he invited the U.S. national team to Washington D.C., regardless of whether they win the tournament, and accused her of disrespecting the country for protesting during the national anthem:

Rapinoe has been protesting during the national anthem since 2016 in a show of solidarity with former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick to raise awareness of racial injustice. 

Trump has frequently criticized athletes during his presidency. After Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry said he didn't want to visit the White House in 2017 after winning the NBA title, Trump tweeted he was rescinding the team's invitation. He's also called for the firing of any NFL player who protested during the national anthem, saying an owner's response should be, "Get that son of a bitch off the field right now."