Trump lies about volleyball player being “hurt badly by trans opponent”
Photo: Screenshot Fox News
In an appearance at a Fox town hall event hosted by Fox News host Harris Faulkner on Wednesday, former President Donald Trump falsely claimed he could ban transgender women from playing women’s sports in the U.S., an authority he wouldn’t have as president.
“You just ban it. The president bans this. “You just don’t allow it to happen,” Trump replied in response to a question from an audience member about transgender athletes in women’s sport. “Not a big deal.”
Related:
The exchange included another false claim when Trump railed against a member of the San Jose State Spartans volleyball team. The video has been widely circulated in far-right media. Your LGBTQ+ guide for Election 2024
Our newsletter will keep you up to date on the issues and candidates that are important to the election in 2024. Slusser listed her teammate as a defendant in the lawsuit.
The footage shows the player Slusser exposed spiking the ball. The ball hit an opposing San Diego State University player in the shoulder and briefly knocked her down. Trump took it up.
“I saw the slam. It was a smash.” Trump lied. “I never saw a girl hit with a ball so hard. Women playing men.” Women playing men.”
Trump said again that he would ban the transgender women from sports with an authoritative order.
“But you don’t need to play volleyball. We stop it. We stop it. You can’t have it,” he said. “You can’t accept it,” he replied.
San Francisco State responded to Trump’s fabrication about their player in a later statement.
In a San Francisco Chronicle report, SDSU’s director of athletic communication Jamie McConeghy stated that the incident did not occur. The ball struck her shoulder. She was uninjured and did not miss a play.”
McConeghy added that San Diego State has “called for multiple corrections from media outlets.”
Trump didn’t elaborate on the authority he thinks he’d have to change the rules in sports, which are governed by numerous local, national, and international bodies. “He would not have the authority or power to prohibit transgender women from participating in college sports.”
That is not a legal possibility,” Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, told the Chronicle.
The player Trump lied about hasn’t commented publicly. The school she attended condemned Trump for using her to further his political agenda. “Our athletes all comply with NCAA and Mountain West Conference policies and they are eligible to play under the rules of those organizations.”
Trump has stoked fear and loathing of the transgender community in his bid to reclaim the White House. The University of Nevada Reno women’s volleyball team announced that they would forfeit a match against San Jose State University in a statement shared with the awkwardly named conservative sports site Outkick. Banning trans women in sports has been a particular focus.
Since Slusser was publicly outed her teammate, four women’s volleyball teams have forfeited matches against San Jose State, including Southern Utah, Boise State, Wyoming, and Utah State.
On Monday, players with the University of Nevada’s women’s volleyball team unilaterally announced they wouldn’t face San Jose State in an upcoming match.
“We, the University of Nevada Reno women’s volleyball team, forfeit against San Jose State University,” they said in a statement shared with the awkwardly-named conservative sports site Outkick.
The university said that despite the protest, the match would be played as scheduled, while individual players would be granted the opportunity to sit out.
San Jose State’s coach Todd Kress said the fallout over his co-captain’s actions has been hard on the team.
“Concentrating on what we can do on the court has, quite frankly, been very tough lately,” Kress said. “There have been outside forces who have sought to divide our team, our university, our conference and our sport.”
He added, “I just have faith that we’ll eventually be able to put the outside noise aside and be able to play for each other and find love for one another again.”
Subscribe to the
LGBTQ Nation newsletter
and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.
Don’t forget to share:
