{"id":2642156,"date":"2026-08-08T11:31:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:31:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/megan-rapinoe-melts-down-after-seeing-photo-of-sophie-cunningham-with-riley-gaines\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T11:35:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:35:29","slug":"megan-rapinoe-melts-down-after-seeing-photo-of-sophie-cunningham-with-riley-gaines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/megan-rapinoe-melts-down-after-seeing-photo-of-sophie-cunningham-with-riley-gaines\/","title":{"rendered":"Megan Rapinoe Melts Down After Seeing Photo of Sophie Cunningham with Riley Gaines"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmegan-rapinoe-melts-down-after-seeing-photo-of-sophie-cunningham-with-riley-gaines%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2642156&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The content discusses Megan Rapinoe, a former prominent soccer player and outspoken social and political commentator, notably on transgender participation in women\u2019s sports. It criticizes her ongoing public statements and activism, especially her opposition to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/alitos-what-is-a-woman-question-leaves-leftist-attorney-flailing-7\/\" title=\"Alito&#039;s &#039;What Is A Woman?&#039; Question Leaves Leftist Attorney Flailing\">laws restricting transgender athletes<\/a> from competing in girls\u2019 sports. The article highlights her past achievements with the U.S.Women\u2019s National Soccer Team and her subsequent focus on social issues, frequently enough framing debates around protecting young girls and preserving Title IX. It also covers a recent controversy involving college athlete Sophie Cunningham, who expressed concerns about biological males in girls\u2019 sports, and the reactions from other sports figures and activists. The piece portrays Rapinoe as engaging in cultural grifting, accusing her of spreading misinformation and aligning with organizations aiming to weaken Title IX, while dismissing her claims that laws banning boys from girls\u2019 sports are harmful. it presents a critical view of Rapinoe\u2019s activism and the broader political dynamics surrounding gender and sports issues.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><br \/>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>I regret to inform you that Megan Rapinoe is still around and still demanding that we pay attention to her ramblings.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/megan-rapinoe-turns-women-latest-move-just-like-turned-america\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rapinoe<\/a>, in case you\u2019ve forgotten, was (emphasis on the past tense) known for two things. First, she was almost the best player on the 163rd or so most-followed sports squad in America, the U.S. Women\u2019s National Soccer Team.<\/p>\n<p>Every four years, we maybe sorta paid attention to her and then forgot whether they won the World Cup. (Pop quiz: Did they last time? And what year was it held? And who did they beat\/lose to? If you got all that right, congratulations: You\u2019re either woke, a soccer nerd, or just a lucky guesser.)<\/p>\n<p>Second, in between the quadrennial forced feminist reeducation pageant that is the women\u2019s World Cup, Rapinoe has carved out a career for herself as a political and social pundit, particularly around transgender participation in women\u2019s sports.<\/p>\n<p>She believes in Title IX, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/rapinoe-finally-says-loud-trans-agenda-wont-admit-sports-demands-american-parents-get-grip\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">which she credits<\/a> with giving her the opportunity to play soccer at an elite level, but also believes we should let men into women\u2019s sports because \u201cyour kid\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/megan-rapinoe-tells-girls-parents-to-suck-it-up-over-trans-athletes-your-kids-volleyball-team-just-isnt-that-important\/\" title=\"... Tells Girls, Parents To Suck It Up Over Trans Athletes: \u2018Your Kid\u2019s\u2019 \u2018Volleyball Team Just Isn\u2019t That ...\u2019\">high school volleyball team<\/a> just isn\u2019t that important.\u201d (Her words.)<\/p>\n<p>Rapinoe has retired from soccer, so the first part of that grift has ended, which means she\u2019s really leaning on the second half. And \u2014 would you believe it? \u2014 she has Strong Opinions\u2122 about Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham believing that boys don\u2019t belong in girls sports.<\/p>\n<p>Cunningham, mind you, was dragged into this rather against her will. Asked about her position on it in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/sophie-cunningham-stands-young-girls-battling-trans-mob-love-truth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">July ESPN interview<\/a>, she said that she \u201cgot a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd I\u2019m like, \u2018I never once said that,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cI think that I am here to extend love. But I also think with that love is truth, being honest. And I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn\u2019t have to go against biological men.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Well, that touched off a firestorm, especially after she stood by the remarks. Needless to say, this sent the woke sisterhood of the traveling WNBAers into conniptions, including getting Minnesota Lynx coach <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/watch-camera-catches-animated-meeting-sophie-cunningham-trans-activist-coach-opposing-team\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cheryl Reeve<\/a> to don these preposterous duds during a game against Cunningham\u2019s Fever squad.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve wearing a \u201cTrans Kids Belong\u201d shirt against the Fever today <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/wbQuMMMAJ3\">pic.twitter.com\/wbQuMMMAJ3<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 OutKick (@Outkick) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Outkick\/status\/2083966390911041625?\">August 2, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>But if there\u2019s cultural grift going on, darn tootin\u2019 that Megan Rapinoe is going to get some of that action on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=qZF-PQDsEXM&#038;t=164s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">her podcast<\/a>, which had literally thousands of views as of Saturday morning. (That\u2019s charitably speaking; it has a bit over 1,900 on YouTube, which isn\u2019t precisely multiples of thousands. That\u2019s also 12,000 fewer views than a video posted on the same day as a video of a guy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=jSpIMd2u1RQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">walking around<\/a> a dead mall in Maryland and 14,000 fewer views than a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LecAVxu3XyQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">two-hour play-through<\/a> of the notoriously terrible 1995 Atari Jaguar video game \u201cAttack of the Mutant Penguins.\u201d Relevancy!)<\/p>\n<p>Surprise, surprise, she\u2019s not a fan \u2014 especially given that Cunningham took a photo with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/nothing-approval-man-riley-gaines-responds-trump-says-not-big-fan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Riley Gaines<\/a>, the activist who\u2019s helped draw attention to trans men invading and dominating women\u2019s sports.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn an interview with ESPN, Cunningham emphasized how she wanted to \u2018protect,\u2019 quote unquote, \u2018young girls in the locker room,&#8217;\u201d Rapinoe tut-tutted. \u201cAfter the article was published, Cunningham defended her comments and was recently photographed with Riley Gaines at an Indiana Fever game.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know Sophie, so I can only project what I see about her beliefs based on her actions,\u201d Rapinoe continued. \u201cAnd seeing a picture of her with Riley Gaines after the game told me everything I need to know about what\u2019s happening. Riley Gaines has made it her life\u2019s mission to exclude trans people from public life.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s directly tied to the Heritage Foundation, the authors of Project 2025 and now 2026, who have now published a report that suggests that they want to repeal Title IX, the very piece of legislation that allowed athletes like Sophie and myself to compete in sports,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd this is where I think the accountability with having a major platform is extremely important. You can hear it even in the language being used \u2014 that the root of trans exclusion is to protect young girls from men \u2026 it frames the conversation as if we\u2019re protecting young girls from men being in WNBA locker rooms. Not happening.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This is where the \u201cArrested Development\u201d narrator would interject via voice-over: \u201cThis was a lie.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It has nothing to do with the WNBA and everything to do with protecting young girls in sports, which Rapinoe acknowledged just seconds later when she said that laws banning boys from playing girls sports \u201care excluding kids, kids, from playing youth sports.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-embed\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Kristen Kish on Overcoming Fears on Top Chef, Korean Cinderella and Finding Her Queer Identity\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qZF-PQDsEXM?start=163&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Which they\u2019re not, of course. They can play sports \u2014 boys sports. But then again, why should we be surprised? This was a farrago of lies, including the fact that Gaines and Cunningham are the ones trying to weaken <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/state-maine-referred-doj-refusing-sign-title-ix-agreement\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Title IX<\/a> and not Rapinoe and her ilk.<\/p>\n<p>And of course, we know how much sympathy Rapinoe has for young girls.<\/p>\n<p>As she said in 2022: \u201cI would also encourage everyone out there who is afraid someone\u2019s going to have an unfair advantage over their kid to really take a step back and think what are we actually talking about here. We\u2019re talking about people\u2019s lives. I\u2019m sorry, your kid\u2019s high school volleyball team just isn\u2019t that important. It\u2019s not more important than any one kid\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But of course, that\u2019s not what this is all about. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/megan-rapinoe-back-spotlight-getting-torched-blasting-rule-protecting-women-athletes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Megan Rapinoe<\/a> is not happy that one of the most popular female athletes in the country is standing up against the LGBT agenda, and that she no longer has the soapbox she once had to clap back at common sense, or that the American people are in Cunningham\u2019s corner.<\/p>\n<p>Well, whatever. Here\u2019s hoping that the 2,000 people who view this rant put a \u201cTrans Kids Belong\u201d sticker on the back of their Subaru. I\u2019m sure that\u2019ll make all the difference.<\/p>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #171717; display: flex;font-size: 16px;font-weight: 600;line-height: 1.5;margin: 24px 0;padding: 18px 20px 18px 30px;text-align: left;\">\n<div style=\"align-self: stretch;border-left: 3px solid #171717;flex-shrink: 0;padding-left: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<p><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/\">Choose The Western Journal as your preferred source on Google and never miss reporting that defends truth, protects freedom, and advances Western civilization<\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey == typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts = { \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs = [ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i = 0; i < inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! 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Once known for two main things-being a top player on the U.S. Women\u2019s Soccer Team and voicing political views-she&#8217;s now focusing more on social issues, especially transgender participation in sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2642157,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/rapinoe-for-aug.-8-2026.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[6733,3847,43223],"class_list":["post-2642156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-controversy","tag-sports","tag-womens-soccer"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/rapinoe-for-aug.-8-2026.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2642156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2642156"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2642156\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2642160,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2642156\/revisions\/2642160"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2642157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2642156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2642156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2642156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}