Carli Lloyd may have made her political views apparent when claiming that she's never expressed her political views.
Lloyd responded to a social media user who commented on a Fox Sports post promoting a World Cup preview event in Austin on Saturday, March 14. The former United States women's soccer star is part of a panel also featuring Alexis Lalas.
The user, named John F Kelly, encouraged Fox Sports analyst Stu Holden to not "let the Ginger Fascist and his sidekick Lloyd get away with their BS." Kelly told Holden to "confront their views" and don't appease them.
"Views? You don’t even know my views," Lloyd replied. "I've never voiced them nor does it matter. I’m a soccer analyst. I don’t pretend to be an expert in anything else."
Another social media user wished Lalas would take the same approach, asking Lloyd to teach him how to be a "decent soccer analyst." Lloyd defended her colleague.
"If he was talking as a Democrat you’d be saying otherwise," Lloyd wrote. "You would welcome it. And that’s the problem."
Lalas doesn't hide views
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Lloyd has never openly identified as a Republican, but this isn't her first time entrenched in political controversy. She was the only player who declined to kneel with her USWNT teammates in protest of racial injustice during a bronze-medal match at the 2021 Olympics.
The New Jersey native called the gesture "distracting" when explaining in 2023 why she "had enough of kneeling."
"In that moment, we were kneeling — it was right before kickoff, so it wasn’t necessarily like a protest per se, but I guess everybody in the English Premier League was just taking a knee before kickoff," Lloyd said. "So we had done it every game, and I knew that was going to be my last world championship game, so I wanted to stand. I had kneeled all the other times."
Lalas, on the other hand, has openly supported U.S. President Donald Trump on social media. The 55-year-old attended last week's State of the Union address.
"I was fortunate to be invited," Lalas wrote. "I wish all Americans could experience it. It was fun, energizing, and interesting. I saw many parallels to sports. It was a historic ritual/setting. It provided perspective and elicited pride. Like many things, the live experience is very different."