Trump’s anti-trans rhetoric at rallies wrongly targets Olympic gold medalists

Top line

Former President Donald Trump has used several rallies over the past week to blast transgender rights — a persistent political tactic among Republicans in 2024 — and expanded his rhetoric to falsely target female Olympians who won gold in Paris this summer amid intense gender debate about their eligibility.

Trump made remarks in Las Vegas on Friday night. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Getty Images

Key facts

Trump said he would keep “transgender craziness the hell out of our schools” at rallies in Wisconsin and Nevada over the past week, using the pledge to keep up with the performances of women’s boxing gold medalists Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting in at least four rallies over the past five weeks — though he didn’t mention the fighters by name.

Trump falsely claimed that two boxers “transitioned from men to women” and won gold medals, characterizing their victories as “demeaning to women,” even though Khelif and Yu-Ting have participated in women’s boxing throughout their careers, which date back to 2018 and 2013, respectively.

Speaking in Arizona on Thursday, the former president referred to Khelif’s preliminary victory over Italian boxer Angela Carini, who abruptly pulled out of the bout in round one after a blow to the nose, saying “this beautiful young woman from Italy” was fighting a “man.”

At the time, Carini said she had “never felt a blow like this”, but she later told reporters she had no opinion on Khelif’s eligibility and apologized for not shaking Khelif’s hand after the match.

Trump said in Wisconsin that Carini was “a real threat for the medal,” even though the Italian boxer was an unseeded fighter while Khelif was assigned as the fifth-ranked seed.

Both Khelif and Yu-Ting insist they were born female, and no evidence has been provided by critics to suggest otherwise.

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Khelif has filed a cyberbullying lawsuit against critics

After the Olympics, Khelif filed a cyberbullying complaint against X, formerly known as Twitter, reportedly targeting X owner and richest man in the world Elon Musk and author JK Rowling, who both made disparaging tweets questioning Khelif’s gender. Trump is also reportedly part of the investigation, according to Variety , which noted that the former president tweeted a photo of Khelif’s fight with Carini along with a caption promising to “keep men out of women’s sports!”

Crucial quote

“[Carini] struggled [Khelif] who was male and transitioned to femaleness and [Khelif] looked like if Muhammad Ali in his prime saw him, Muhammad would be scared,” Trump said in Nevada.

Where did the claims against Khelif and Yu-Ting begin?

The review began when both women were disqualified from the 2023 International Boxing Association world boxing championships due to a mysterious failed eligibility test, although “the details remain confidential” except that it did not include a testosterone test, according to the IBA. The IBA would only say that it “conclusively indicated that both athletes did not meet the necessary necessary eligibility criteria and were found to have competitive advantages over other female competitors.” But the IBA is a heavily criticized group banned by the Olympics with close ties to Russia (Khelif was disqualified after she beat a previously undefeated Russian boxer).

Chief critic

International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams said Khelif is not a transgender athlete, adding that every person competing in the Olympics’ women’s events followed eligibility rules, noting that Khelif and Yu-Ting identify as female on their passports.

Key

Trump targeted other athletes at the three rallies, at one point referencing transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, who controversially won an NCAA Division I women’s title in 2022. Trump said Thomas looked like basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain “on steroids.” Trump also called back a long-running, grunting bit about an unnamed transgender weightlifter in Arizona, mimicking a female lifter who failed to lift a bar that was later cleared by the transgender person. The bit doesn’t seem grounded in reality, as Trump doesn’t refer to real athletes or a legitimate competition when he’s making the scene.

Key background

Trump has championed anti-transgender policies, vowed to remove transgender people from feminism and pledged to roll back the protections transgender people have under Title IX, a federal civil rights law. The former president said in March that he would “cut federal funding” for schools that promote “critical race theory, transgender bigotry and other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content to our children.” Trump has also promised to ban doctors who provide gender-affirming care through Medicare and Medicaid, although doctors in several states already face penalties, such as losing their medical licenses, for providing such care.

Why was Imane Khelif wrongly labeled as a transman?

The controversy surrounding Khelif was linked to her dominant victory over Carini and her failure of the International Boxing Association’s unspecified gender eligibility test in 2023. International Boxing Association president Umar Kremlev told reporters during the Olympics that the eligibility test showed that Khelif had elevated testosterone levels. But the claim appeared to conflict with the International Boxing Association’s statement issued days before Kremlev’s comment, noting that Khelif “did not undergo a testosterone test.” The statement also said that the details of the test “remain confidential.” Khelif, who lost to Irish boxer Kellie Harrington in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, appealed her disqualification from the tournament held by the International Boxing Association, calling it a “huge conspiracy,” according to NBC News. The International Boxing Federation is not recognized by the International Olympic Committee in part because of a “total lack of financial transparency,” according to a statement from the committee.