Sophie Cunningham’s well-publicized stance against transgender women in women’s sports has made her a hero to some and loathsome to others.
Former U.S. Senator and current Republican New Hampshire senatorial candidate Scott Brown fits in the former category. In a new interview with the “Ruthless” podcast, released on Friday, Brown praised Cunningham for having “the guts” to speak out on the issue.
Not the first time Brown has spoken his mind
Brown previously penned a column titled “The WNBA has a foul problem” in the Union Leader on Aug. 15, where he argued against transgender women being eligible for the league and also touched on Chicago Sky guard DiJonai Carrington’s flagrant foul on Cunningham and ensuing “WHITE PRIVILEGE” tweet.
During his “Ruthless” interview, Brown, who served as United States ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa during Donald Trump’s first term, expressed his admiration for Cunningham again.
“Sophie Cunningham had the guts to get up and challenge this crazy ideology and put up with the crap that she’s putting up with,” he said, via Fox News. via Fox News.
Brown also called the league’s transgender approach “hypocritical.”
“It’s a no-brainer. The WNBA better get their you-know-what together because they’re going to lose it all without even blinking,” he added.
Brown is also a Caitlin Clark fan
Brown, 66, whose daughter Ayla played basketball at Boston College from 2006-10, called it “easy” for him to believe transgender women don’t belong in women’s sports.
“My daughter committed to Boston College at 15,” said Brown, who had a lengthy career in the Massachusetts and U.S. senates. “[She was] Gatorade Player of the Year, two years in a row, 2,358 points in high school. They had men, practice players, coming in and trying to make them better because they were bigger and stronger. To think one of them was going to take my baby’s job.”
It seems doubtful there are actually any men looking to take roster spots from women, but Brown also praised former NBA center Enes Kanter, who recently “declared” for the WNBA Draft in a stunt to promote his anti-transgender stance.
Brown also went on to lament the way Cunningham’s Fever teammate Caitlin Clark “is being treated” in the WNBA, calling out a perceived “lack of respect, and, quite frankly thankfulness” for increasing the visibility of the league.
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