U.S. women’s soccer star Carli Lloyd finally admits that she was bored by the idea of taking a knee during the national anthem at the 2021 Olympics.
Lloyd was conspicuous during the games in Tokyo for being the only U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team member not to kneel during the American anthem. She remained standing while the rest bowed to wokeness to protest against the very country they were in Tokyo to represent.
During an interview Wednesday with CBS Sports, Lloyd dismissed taking a knee during the anthem. She said that by the time of the Olympics, taking a knee was “beginning to feel like a thing to do” and was empty of any meaning by that time. She also said it hadn’t done much to change anything, either.
“I just felt that we had done enough of the kneeling, and I just wanted to stand for my last World Championship game,” Lloyd insisted.
"I just felt that we had done enough of the kneeling and I just wanted to stand for my last World Championship game."
On tonight's episode of Kickin' It, @kate_abdo asks Carli Lloyd about her decision not to kneel in at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. pic.twitter.com/juefQnbviD
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) October 18, 2023
“That was it, there was like no other thought or anything,” Lloyd exclaimed. “I just thought that we had done enough of the kneeling, and I just wanted to stand for my last world championship game.”
Lloyd noted that “there’ is no perfect nation” but also pointed out that people risk cancel culture if they don’t have a “certain opinion” these days.
“I think we’ve gotten to a point where if it’s not a certain opinion, then other people can’t have their other opinions,” Lloyd said.
“It’s kind of contradicting itself. In that moment, I just kind of had enough of kneeling right before the game because we had done it for a whole year or so leading up,” she explained.
Several United States players, including United States forward Megan Rapinoe (15) and United States defender Crystal Dunn (19), are seen taking a kneel during the singing of the national anthem in action during an International friendly match between United States and Colombia on January 18, 2021, at Explora Stadium in Orlando, FL. (Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
She said she supports “actionable change,” but taking a knee just wasn’t helping anything.
“And I just felt like it was just like a thing to do. Like it was just beginning to feel like a thing to do. It was an empty stadium. I don’t know how many people were watching the game. It was 10 seconds before, it was not like our team was wearing coats, it was a global thing people were doing,” she said.
Lloyd also raised the left’s hackles when she criticized former teammate Megan Rapinoe, her antics, and the USWNT’s lackluster performance at the World Cup this year.
Lindsey Horan #9 of the USWNT kneels during a game between Sweden and USWNT at Tokyo Stadium on July 21, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (Logan Beerman/ISI Photos/Getty Images)
The former soccer star described the USWNT’s performance at the Women’s World Cup as the “worst she’s ever seen” in March.
Despite the attacks on her analysis, Lloyd doubled down on her criticism, too, and called the team’s efforts on the field “uninspiring” and blasted the USWNT for inappropriately celebrating on the field when they barely eked out a win.
Ultimately, the U.S. women left the World Cup empty-handed this year.
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