Trump Responds to US Women's Soccer's Big Win, Addresses Pay Demands
A day after the U.S. women’s team notched a 13-0 win over Thailand to kick off the World Cup, President Donald Trump acknowledged the team’s impressive victory Wednesday.
Trump called it a “big win.” “Never seen one like it,” he said.
A reporter followed up by asking whether the president thinks the women’s team should receive the same pay as the men’s team.
“We’ll talk about that later,” Trump responded.
Just asked Trump about Team USA women's soccer: "Big win," he said.
"Should they get paid the same as the men?"
Trump to me: "We'll talk about that later."— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) June 12, 2019
The pay disparity between the U.S. men and women has been a topic of discussion for the past several years.
In March, 28 women’s players filed a discrimination lawsuit against U.S. Soccer. They argued pay disparity is in violation of both the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The latter “prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.”
In 2016, five women’s players filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claiming wage discrimination.
A year later, however, the women’s national team players association and U.S. Soccer ratified a new collective bargaining agreement.
As it stands, the women earn a base salary of $3,600 per game while the men earn $5,000, according to Vox.
The bonuses are also lower on the women’s side; when the women’s team won the World Cup in 2015, the players received $15,000 apiece. When the men’s team made it to the Round of 16 in 2014, they received bonuses worth $55,000 apiece.
What a stupid video. Of course they shouldn’t but not because they’re women, because it’s about sponsorship and popularity of the woman’s game, which is rightfully rapidly increasing. This isn’t a sexism issue.
— Darren (@PaterAmore) June 12, 2019
However, there is a huge difference in revenue created in the men’s and women’s World Cups, and the men’s tournament attracts far more viewers worldwide than the women’s.
While the men’s 2018 World Cup attracted 3.6 billion total viewers worldwide, according to CNBC, the most recent completed women’s World Cup, in 2015, drew just 764 million in total, according to FIFA’s website.
In 2015, CBS reported the 2010 men’s World Cup amassed roughly $4 billion in revenue, while the women’s World Cup in 2011 brought in less than $73 million.
Although Trump didn’t say whether he thinks the women’s team should be paid the same as the men, many prominent Democrats support the idea, including Sens. Chuck Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren, according to The Washington Post.
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