Tennis legend Martina Navratilova said in a video advertisement that she would not defect to the United States if today’s situation were around when she left Czechoslovakia.
Navratilova made the video for “Home of the Brave,” an online community launched earlier this year that labels itself as a place for those who have been “hurt by the Trump administration.” Navratilova has been a longtime critic of Trump.
In the video, Navratilova hinted at similarities she has seen between today’s United States and the Communist country she grew up in.
“I defected from a totalitarian regime, and like hell am I going to be cowed again, and have to be careful about what I say. I grew up in a Communist country, Czechoslovakia. So I know what it looks like and feels like to live in a totalitarian regime where you cannot speak your mind, or worse, put in prison for political opinions. I’m so proud to be an American, but I’m embarrassed for what Trump is doing to our country,” Navratilova said to begin the video.
“I am p—-d off as hell about people capitulating to Trump. Whether it’s legal firms, schools, politicians, or companies, we are too big to fail. If we stand together but are divided, we fall. And that’s what Trump is counting on. Chaos, fear. This was the freest country in the world when I defected in 1975. If this was the situation for me now, I would definitely not choose to live here.
“My fear is that people are just too complacent, too scared, and thinking they don’t matter. And we all matter. As a tennis player, you’re used to fighting. You have to fight for every point, and it kind of gives you that backbone. I will not be quiet. Not speaking out equals resignation, and that’s just unacceptable. When you leave a totalitarian regime and you come to a freedom-loving country, of course you have to speak up. Speaking out is the patriotic thing to do. When you see something wrong, don’t be afraid. You can find things to make a difference. Democracy is never finished, but my God, we need to fix it. Keep protesting, and pay attention.”
One political issue that Navratilova has sided with Trump on, however, is transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports. Navratilova has long been outspoken that girls and women should not play against biological males.
Last December, she said she was “mad” that Republicans had tackled the nationwide controversy over trans athletes in women’s sports instead of the Democrats.
“And I am so mad that the Republicans captured this issue – shame on all the elected Democrats who keep silent on this!!! #whataboutthewomen,” she wrote on X.
The tennis legend appeared at the Independent Women’s Forum’s “Take Back Title IX” rally in June to address the issue, where she claimed she was a “homophobe” despite being “out since ’81.”
“‘You’re a bigot, you’re a transphobe, you’re a Nazi, you’re a fascist, you’re a communist,’ everything and everything in between. And this is coming from the left. I am the left! My people are turning on me. They’re turning on us, women, who speak up for women’s sex-based rights.”
Fox News’ Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.
