Left-wing late-night host Jimmy Kimmel apparently is not just committed to going political as much as he personally can on his show, he’s determined to make his guests go there, too. In an interview with U.S. Women’s Soccer stars Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan Thursday, Kimmel repeatedly steers the conversation toward the progressive agenda, or — as Rapinoe puts it when he first veers into politics — he deliberately “stirs the pot,” again and again.
After inviting on Rapinoe and Morgan — who have both been openly critical of President Trump, particularly the former — Kimmel asks a few introductory questions about their seemingly non-stop celebration since winning the World Cup on Sunday and Rapinoe’s decision to dye her hair pink/purple. But it doesn’t take long for Kimmel to start hammering “equal pay,” driving a wedge between the U.S. women’s and men’s teams, and encouraging the stars to start a boycott.
“Can you answer this question, because I was thinking about this: Why is the American team, your team, so dominant? Why are you guys so much better than everyone else?” Kimmel asks, a question that has a predetermined direction, as he quickly reveals (video below).
Rapinoe points to Morgan, then lifts an eyebrow and gestures to her whole body, amid claps from the audience. “Look at her,” she says. Morgan doesn’t have much more of a response saying, simply, “It’s a good question, um…”
But Kimmel cuts Morgan off before she can finish the thought, and instantly takes a jab at the men’s team in the process. “It’s an interesting question, isn’t it? It’s not like that with the men’s team,” says Kimmel.
Rapinoe responds with a chiding head tilt and a “stirring the pot” motion. “Jimmy!” Morgan says, wagging her finger.
Then Kimmel calls for a particular clip of the parade in which the president of U.S. Soccer tells the crowd that they invest more money in women’s soccer than any country in the world, a statement met with chants of “Equal Pay! Equal Pay!” from the crowd.
“So that’s the president of U.S. Soccer and this has become a big topic of conversation,” says Kimmel. “You want equal pay, and by the way, I think it’s a mistake. Shouldn’t you be paid more because you [win more often]?”
That line draws loud applause and cheers from Kimmel’s audience.
Kimmel goes on to urge the stars to boycott the next World Cup if they don’t get equal pay, advice Morgan appears reluctant to fully embrace.
WATCH:
Kimmel’s argument for equal pay does not appear to factor in one key detail: the actual money made by men’s and women’s soccer. The pay disparity is a result of the dramatic difference in revenues from men’s and women’s leagues. When the actual revenues are factored in, U.S. women are actually paid at a higher percentage than men, notes The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh. Forbes provided a breakdown of the massive revenue differences between recent World Cups:
As Dwight Jaynes pointed out four years ago after the U.S. women beat Japan to capture the World Cup in Vancouver, there is a big difference in the revenue available to pay the teams. The Women’s World Cup brought in almost $73 million, of which the players got 13%. The 2010 men’s World Cup in South Africa made almost $4 billion, of which 9% went to the players.
The men still pull the World Cup money wagon. The men’s World Cup in Russia generated over $6 billion in revenue, with the participating teams sharing $400 million, less than 7% of revenue. Meanwhile, the Women’s World Cup is expected to earn $131 million for the full four-year cycle 2019-22 and dole out $30 million to the participating teams.