Ben Shapiro defends saying Megan Rapinoe gets contracts because she's an 'outspoken lesbian'

Right-wing pundit Ben Shapiro has defended his remarks asserting that US soccer star Megan Rapinoe is only receiving contracts because she's a 'very outspoken lesbian'. Yep, that's his 'hot take'.

The comments, which also came with the line 'every word I say here is true', come after Shapiro received backlash from left-wing commentators and publications for saying that Rapinoe was getting 'million dollar contracts because of her sexuality'.

Speaking on his podcast and radio show, The Ben Shapiro Show, on Wednesday, the conservative commentator said:

We’re talking about Megan Rapinoe getting million dollar contracts specifically because of her sexuality, and because she’s a very, very good soccer player.

Finishing his rant, he concluded:

But let’s not make any mistake, if she was a very good soccer player and she were not a very outspoken lesbian, she would be getting fewer contracts because she’s seen as a political figure. She’s sort of Colin Kaepernick but with actual talent at her sport.

The comments were widely derided, with many people taking to social media to criticise him:

However, taking to Twitter on Thursday, Shapiro lashed out and defended his comments, aiming his criticism at the left-leaning online publication Media Matters, saying:

Every word I say here is true.

I say that she is getting contracts and publicity because of her politics AND because of her great talent. Which is why she is being discussed on MSNBC rather than ESPN alone, and cutting political ads for Nike.

He added:

Instead of reading Media Matters' idiotic one-line wildly and deliberately misleading synopses of my statements, perhaps you should actually just listen to the statements.

Concluding, he said:

I say IN THIS CLIP that she is Colin Kaepernick with actual talent. Which is accurate.

Rapinoe is an outspoken critic of Trump, a message she has consistently promoted since she led the US women's team to victory in the Women's World Cup last week as their co-captain.

On Wednesday, in an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper, she was asked if she had a message for Mr Trump. In response, she said:

Your message is excluding people. You’re excluding me, you’re excluding people that look like me, you’re excluding people of colour, you’re excluding Americans that maybe support you.

HT The Hill

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