Over the past several years, United States President Donald Trump has been outspoken in his criticism of the idea of transgender women and girls playing in women’s sports, and as the midterm elections approach, Trump issued a bit of a warning about what he thinks the upcoming elections could mean in that regard.
During a rally in Oklahoma on Thursday, Trump warned that the “radical left Democrat Communists” will lead to “men playing in women’s sports.”
Trump Speaks Out on Trans Athletes
“The choice in this election is very simple. You can vote for the radical left Democrat Communists who loot your wealth, raise your taxes by $4 trillion, annihilate your borders, shut down Oklahoma oil and gas, mutilate your children – your transgender children – have men playing in women’s sports,” Trump said at the rally in Oklahoma this week.
Trump then looked in the crowd for “Freedom,” referring to former NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom, who was attending the rally. Over the past several weeks, Kanter Freedom has been making a mockery of the WNBA by declaring himself eligible for the league as a fake transgender woman.
Trump then weighed in on Kanter Freedom’s attempts to join the WNBA. He then called Kanter Freedom “the largest human being.”
“In all fairness, this guy is a monster. He dreams of playing against women,” Trump said. “In fact, he’s willing to say that he’s a woman in order to play against women, and I don’t think he really believes that, but that’s OK. These are minor details.”
Trans Athletes Are Rare
For all the attention the issue gets on the campaign trail, transgender athletes make up a tiny fraction of competitors in the U.S.
During a December 2024 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, NCAA president Charlie Baker told lawmakers there were fewer than 10 transgender athletes he was aware of competing in college sports, out of roughly 510,000 total athletes, or less than 0.002% of everyone competing at NCAA schools.
Vox reporter Katelyn Burns, who has been covering anti-trans bills across the country over the past several years, has called legislation banning trans athletes in sports “a solution in search of a problem.”
As for the WNBA, no transgender woman has ever played in the league. The WNBA has been discussing transgender-athlete eligibility but hasn’t announced a new policy, and recently said there were no immediate eligibility matters affecting the league.
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