Donald Trump vowed to ban biological males (transgender women) from competing in women’s sports should he run for and win the election as President in 2024.
The former President made what some have speculated was a campaign pledge during a rally in Conroe, Texas over the weekend.
“We will ban men from participating in women’s sports,” Trump told the crowd. “So ridiculous.”
He then turned his focus to Lia Thomas, a biological male competing in women’s swimming at the University of Pennsylvania. Thomas has sparked controversy after shattering numerous women’s swim records at UPenn.
“Did you see the man who was in a swimming team that I know very well?” Trump inquired, refusing to refer to Thomas by preferred pronouns. “The record held for like 11 years, he beat it by 38 seconds.”
The former president also specifically targeted Lia Thomas, a trans University of Pennsylvania swimmer.https://t.co/rH0UZZRWqg via @JoYurcaba
— NBC Out (@NBCOUT) January 31, 2022
Trump Takes On Culture War
In the race former President Donald Trump is referring to, Thomas beat the next closest rival in the 1,650 freestyle by a clear 38 seconds, setting a record for the event – not beating the record itself by 38 seconds.
Thomas previously competed for the school’s men’s swim team for three years before joining the women’s team.
Trump seems to be making the issue of transgender athletes a potential campaign platform, capitalizing on the outrage of those who feel it is destroying women’s sports.
“Young girls and women are incensed that they are now being forced to compete against those who are biological males,” Trump said at CPAC last year.
“It’s not good for women. It’s not good for women’s sports, which worked for so long and so hard to get to where they are.”
Watch Trump rant about biological males competing in women’s sports. This is the common sense people miss. https://t.co/6pgrjJhFGU pic.twitter.com/0Dsg9403u9
— Not the Bee (@Not_the_Bee) March 1, 2021
RELATED: Trump Hints That He Would Pardon January 6 Rioters If He Wins In 2024
A Winning Issue?
A Gallup poll released last year shows a vast majority of Americans, by a 62-34% margin, believe transgender athletes should only be allowed to play on sports teams that correspond with their biological sex.
Mixed Views Among Americans on Transgender Issues
“Most Americans believe athletes should participate on the teams that match their birth gender.” https://t.co/dMF2leziSW— rose@inmyownfashion2 (@inmyownfashion2) January 13, 2022
Olympian Caitlyn Jenner, who as Bruce Jenner is still considered by many to be one of the greatest athletes of all time, weighed in on the issue recently as well:
“I’ve been pretty consistent. We have to protect women’s sports from something like this. Lia Thomas, first of all, I respect her right to live her life authentically — suffering from gender dysphoria is a horrible, lifelong struggle, and every story is different.”
Former Representative from Hawaii, Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat, introduced a bill to Congress in 2020 which would force Title IX to be applied based on a person’s biological sex.
“Our legislation protects Title IX’s original intent which was based on the general biological distinction between men and women athletes based on sex,” said Gabbard.
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Title IX protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive Federal financial assistance.
Gabbard also criticized her party’s insistence on supporting transgender individuals to the detriment of women.
“It’s the height of hypocrisy for people who claim to be the champions of rights for women to deny the very biological existence of women,” she said.
As the Biden administration pushes for allowing biological men to compete in women’s sports, @TulsiGabbard tells me why we must “PROTECT” the level playing field Title IX gave our female athletes. pic.twitter.com/C5boDZtG8j
— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) February 28, 2021
As of October of 2021, ten states had enacted laws that ban transgender girls from competing in girls or women’s sports.
Trump also made news at the Texas rally when he appeared to make another campaign pledge, vowing to offer pardons to those arrested for the January 6 riot at the Capitol who have been treated “unfairly.”
BREAKING: President Trump promises to PARDON Jan. 6 prisoners if he runs and wins in 2024 pic.twitter.com/teYbYNBcuB
— RSBN ?? (@RSBNetwork) January 30, 2022
“If I run, and if I win, we will treat those people from January 6 fairly. We will treat them fairly,” Trump said.
“If that requires pardons, we will give them pardons, because they are being treated so unfairly.”
