Donald Trump has branded the US women's soccer team "Leftist Maniacs" after they won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
According to The Independent, the former President of the United States hit out at the players - and appeared to single out Megan Rapinoe in particular - in the aftermath of the team's loss to Canada on Thursday.
Trump commented in an official statement delivered to the press, which read: "If our soccer team, headed by a radical group of Leftist Maniacs, wasn’t woke, they would have won the Gold Medal instead of the Bronze."
He continued: "Woke means you lose, everything that is woke goes bad, and our soccer team certainly has. There were, however, a few Patriots standing. Unfortunately, they need more than that respecting our Country and National Anthem.
"They should replace the wokesters with Patriots and start winning again. The woman with the purple hair played terribly and spends too much time thinking about Radical Left politics and not doing her job."
"The woman with the purple hair" is believed to be a shot at USWNT forward Megan Rapinoe.
Commenting on the result in a later interview with reporters, 36-year-old Team US captain Becky Sauerbrunn stated: "That bronze means so much. It feels like we really had to earn that thing. And we’re very proud of it."
She continued: "Obviously we wanted to get a gold medal. Everyone wants to get a gold medal, Americans love golds. The fact is we potentially didn’t deserve to get a gold medal. We had to change the goal, and it became: 'Let's get that bronze.'"
Canada's win may be a huge moment for the team as a whole, but could also be historic for their midfielder, Quinn - who is the first-ever publicly out trans/non-binary athlete ever to compete at the Olympics.
Although Quinn represented Canada at the 2016 Olympics, they did not come out as transgender until last year. Quinn is now destined to be the first publicly out transgender medalist in Olympics history, which could be the prestigious gold.
Commenting on the honor of this important LGBTQ+ milestone in a recent Instagram post, Quinn wrote: "I feel sad knowing there were Olympians before me unable to live their truth because of the world. I feel optimistic for change. Change in legislature. Changes in rules, structures, and mindsets.
"Mostly, I feel aware of the realities. Trans girls being banned from sports. Trans women facing discrimination and bias while trying to pursue their Olympic dreams. The fight isn't close to over… and I'll celebrate when we're all here."
