US President Donald Trump caused fresh controversy on Thursday night during his commencement address at the University of Alabama , where he openly mocked a transgender athlete — even after admitting his wife, Melania, disapproved of him doing so.
Speaking to a packed crowd at Coleman Coliseum, Trump criticized the inclusion of transgender women in women’s sports, particularly in weightlifting. Before launching into an impersonation, he told the audience, “Should I imitate him? My wife gets very upset when I do this. She says, ‘Darling, it’s not presidential,’ I say, ‘Yeah, but people like it.’”
Despite Melania’s alleged concerns, Trump went ahead. “All right, I’m in trouble when I get home, but that’s OK, what the hell. I’ve been in lots of trouble before,” he said, prompting laughter from the crowd.
He then acted out a scene comparing a female weightlifter and a transgender athlete, saying, “The greatest is like weightlifting, you ever see the weightlifting? Where they have a record that wasn’t broken in 18 years.”
Trump continued the dramatization by mimicking a female athlete failing to lift the weights: “Mom, I’m gonna do it,” he said in a high-pitched voice, acting out the motion. He followed it by depicting a transgender competitor outperforming her. “Then a guy comes along or a gal or whatever,” Trump said. “A transitioned person and he was a failed weightlifter as a male, but he comes along 206 pounds, they put the little thing on and just ‘boom, boom, boom.’”
He concluded the performance with the line: “That’s not right.”
The timing of Trump’s comments comes just days after his administration announced that the University of Pennsylvania violated federal civil rights laws by allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports. According to the Department of Education, the school’s policy breaches Title IX guidelines by allegedly denying equal athletic opportunities to women.
UPenn has been given 10 days to resolve the issue voluntarily or risk legal action from the Department of Justice.
Speaking to a packed crowd at Coleman Coliseum, Trump criticized the inclusion of transgender women in women’s sports, particularly in weightlifting. Before launching into an impersonation, he told the audience, “Should I imitate him? My wife gets very upset when I do this. She says, ‘Darling, it’s not presidential,’ I say, ‘Yeah, but people like it.’”
He then acted out a scene comparing a female weightlifter and a transgender athlete, saying, “The greatest is like weightlifting, you ever see the weightlifting? Where they have a record that wasn’t broken in 18 years.”
Trump continued the dramatization by mimicking a female athlete failing to lift the weights: “Mom, I’m gonna do it,” he said in a high-pitched voice, acting out the motion. He followed it by depicting a transgender competitor outperforming her. “Then a guy comes along or a gal or whatever,” Trump said. “A transitioned person and he was a failed weightlifter as a male, but he comes along 206 pounds, they put the little thing on and just ‘boom, boom, boom.’”
He concluded the performance with the line: “That’s not right.”
The timing of Trump’s comments comes just days after his administration announced that the University of Pennsylvania violated federal civil rights laws by allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports. According to the Department of Education, the school’s policy breaches Title IX guidelines by allegedly denying equal athletic opportunities to women.
UPenn has been given 10 days to resolve the issue voluntarily or risk legal action from the Department of Justice.
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