US women's soccer star Megan Rapinoe said yesterday her team would happily accept New York Senator Chuck Schumer's invitation to the upper chamber.
The Democrat had congratulated the US team on winning the World Cup on Monday, before calling for legislation on equal pay to be put to vote, saying 'all women need to be compensated fairly.'
Although having not yet received a formal invitation from President Trump to the White House, Rapinoe had previously vowed never to visit, saying in a magazine interview: 'I'm not going to the f***ing White House.'
Addressing the Senate floor on Monday, Schumer said: 'And, while today we celebrate their victory, we also recognize that these women, these athletes, have challenges and they make us really think about the future of women's sports.'
'They make us grapple with the deep unfairness in how female athletes are treated, and paid, compared to their male counterparts.'
He later tweeted his support for the star soccer team, saying: 'What the USWNT team did was extraordinary, and they deserve to be compensated fairly.
'All women need to be compensated fairly. Period.
'And we ought to pay attention to this not just once every four years during the World Cup, but year-in and year-out.'
Rapinoe told reporters on Monday she would be 'very happy' to accept the invitation to visit Capitol Hill to talk about equal pay legislation with Schumer as well as celebrate their world cup victory.
She told Fox News: 'That's great. I love that. Interested to see what McConnell does.
'Thank you, Chuck Schumer, for inviting us out. We are very happy to accept your invitation to come.'
Meanwhile President Trump might have a harder time getting the US team to visit the White House, with Rapinoe saying she would straight out refuse an invitation.
'I'm not going to the f***ing White House,' Rapinoe said during an interview in June.
'No f***ing way will we be invited to the White House. [Trump] tries to avoid inviting a team that might decline.
'Or, like he did when the [Golden State] Warriors turned him down, he'll claim they hadn't been invited in the first place.'
Teammate Ali Krieger has also refused to visit the White House, while Alex Morgan said it would be a team decision.
On Sunday, Trump congratulated the team on their win. When questioned on whether male and female soccer players should earn the same money, Trump said: 'I would like to see that, but you've also got to look at numbers... you have to look at who's taking in what' and 'see how they're performing.'
The U.S. team won its fourth World Cup with a 2-0 victory against the Netherlands in the final on Sunday.
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