Obama Honors U.S. Women's Soccer Team: 'Playing Like a Girl Means You're a Badass'

The World Cup-winning U.S.women’s national soccer team was honored in a ceremony today at the White House. The ceremony was chummy, and the President was at his most compelling. “This team taught all of America’s children that ‘playing like a girl’ means you’re a badass,” he said.

The women’s team, who beat Japan in July to win FIFA’s 2015 World Cup, presented the President with his own jersey. In turn, he waxed poetic about their World Cup performance, singling out the play of midfielder Carli Lloyd. “Carli’s performance was so good that by the time the game was over, someone had changed her title on Wikipedia from midfielder to president of the United States. Which, by the way, the job is about to open up,” Obama joked.

He also took the chance to take a lighthearted jab at the primary field: “I guarantee you Carli knows more about being president than some of the folks who are running. But that’s a whole other — that’s a whole other topic of conversation.”

Most importantly, he congratulated the women’s team for the active role that many of its members have played in changing the perception of women in professional sports. “They’ve inspired millions of girls to dream bigger, and by the way, inspired millions of boys to look at girls differently, which is just as important,” the President said.