WNBA veteran Sue Bird said her girlfriend Megan Rapinoe's performance in leading the U.S. Women's National Team to a second consecutive World Cup title earlier this month was "the ultimate silencer" to President Donald Trump.

During the USWNT’s World Cup run, Rapinoe found herself a target of critical tweets by Trump, who had learned the soccer star wouldn't visit the White House under his administration. "Megan should WIN before she talks," Trump wrote in part on June 26.

“Megan let her play speak for itself,” Bird told USA TODAY Sports. “President Trump likes to play games on Twitter to (cater) to his followers. For him to go at Megan and twist it and flip it, then saying they better win, it’s something everyone should be able to see through. Obviously, she went out there and balled out."

After the USWNT won, Rapinoe went into the stands to embrace and kiss Bird, who has been out all season with a knee injury and traveled to France for the final. Bird said Rapinoe “deserved it.”

Rapinoe scored six goals at the World Cup, earning Golden Boot and Golden Ball honors as both the top player and the top goal scorer.

“I saw firsthand what Megan had been through,” Bird said. “She had torn her ACL leading up to the (Rio) Olympics and then afterwards she knelt in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick. A lot was happening where, it’s hard to believe now, but soccer could’ve been taken away from her. She overcame all that. She overcame so much and did it in insane fashion, not just on the field scoring goals, but off the field fighting the president.”

Bird said she has seen the backlash Rapinoe and other athletes get when they use their platform to speak out on social issues. That’s never sat well with her.

“It makes no sense to say, ‘Focus on your sport.’ Listen, athletes are people,” Bird said. “And especially when the president is quick to make comments publicly, at some point, everyone has the right to respond.

“Politics and sports are intertwined. And are we really talking about politics or are we talking about being a good human? And not being a racist? I’ve never heard Megan talk about tax reform. We’re talking about treating people equally. I can’t even get to politics because of the lack of humanity that (Trump) has shown.”

The 37-year-old Bird said there was a time where she didn’t feel comfortable using her platform. When she entered the league, Bird, a lesbian, avoided addressing her sexual orientation because she feared it would lose her sponsors.

“It just wasn’t the vibe at the time,” Bird said. “The vibe was better to keep quiet because you’re not just representing your own image, you’re representing the WNBA. Then I got to the point where it just kind of clicked in my 30s.

“That all changed when I started dating Megan, because she is veryout. At a certain point, it became disingenuous to not talk about it because were in the public (spotlight).”

Bird and Rapinoe met at the Rio Olympics in 2016 and now live together in Seattle (Rapinoe plays for the Seattle Rein FC of Tacoma, Washington). They became the first same-sex couple to appear in ESPN’s body issue and have embraced their power-couple status.

"It means a lot to be role models," Bird said. "Most of it is just us being ourselves and having a (spotlight) that comes with it. It makes you think about all of the (LGBT pioneers) that came before who were comfortable and bold enough to speak their truth."

Bird, who guided the Storm to a second WNBA title last season, said she and Rapinoe don’t store all their Team USA hardware at their apartment. That would include four Olympic gold medals for Bird, and two World Cup titles, along with 2019’s Golden Ball and Golden Boot, for Rapinoe.

“We don’t have enough room," Bird joked.