‘It’s ridiculous’: Trump goes off on transgender athletes on Piers Morgan show, agrees with ban
Former President Donald Trump called transgender athletes “ridiculous,” telling TV host Piers Morgan he agrees with a ban on competitors born as men from taking part in women’s sports.
Trump, responding to a question about controversial transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, said he sided with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who suggested the ban.
“I do, I do,” the former president said about whether he agreed with the ban.
“I agreed with it long before anybody else. I think it’s ridiculous. And it’s bad for the Democrats because they’re not going to do that.”
Morgan then asked, “One of the big questions being put to lots of politicians right now is what is a woman?”
“I’m not going to respond to the question,” Trump answered. “But a woman is somebody that swims at a certain time and doesn’t get beaten by 38 seconds by somebody that wasn’t even a good swimmer as a man.”
Earlier in the interview, Trump used the sport of weightlifting as an example.
“People see it and they won’t put up with it,” he said. “They have a weightlifter where the record was for 11 or 12 years, and they put a half an ounce on each side the woman would lift. A guy comes along and breaks the record by numbers that you wouldn’t even believe.”
Thomas, 23, a transgender swimmer with the University of Pennsylvania, has been at the center of the controversy over the issue.
In March, she won the NCAA title in the 500-meter freestyle — prompting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Caitlyn Jenner, who is also transgender, to agree that Thomas does not deserve the title.
Morgan’s interview with the onetime commander in chief is part of the launch of his new show, “Piers Morgan Uncensored.”
