Tennis legend Martina Navratilova, who famously defected to the United States from Czechoslovakia as a teen in 1975, is using her platform to blast President Trump and what she sees as a slide toward authoritarianism in the United States. In a new ad for the anti-Trump group Home of the Brave, Navratilova draws on her experience growing up under a communist regime to warn Americans about the dangers of suppressing dissent, reports the Independent.
"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," she declares, adding that she knows firsthand "what it looks like and feels like to live ... where you cannot speak your mind or, worse yet, [be] put in prison for political opinions." Now an American citizen, Navratilova says she's "proud" to call the US home, but "embarrassed for what Trump is doing to our country." She doesn't mince words about her frustration with those she sees as enabling the president, saying she's "p---ed off as hell" about people "capitulating" to Trump.
When Navratilova—one of just three tennis players to complete a "career grand slam" in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles—defected to the US at the age of 18, she notes that the US was "the freest country in the world." Now, she doesn't think that label holds. "If this was the situation for me now, I would definitely not choose to live here," she adds. Her message to fellow Americans is simple: "Speaking out is the actual patriotic thing to do. When you see something wrong, don't be afraid."
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