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Former President of the United States Donald Trump has said he will ban transgender women from competing in women's sports if re-elected.
Trump held a rally in Texas on Saturday and said trans women competing in women's sport is 'ridiculous' during a speech.
"We will ban men from participating in women’s sports," Trump claimed. "So ridiculous."
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The 75-year-old made a number of references to Lia Thomas, claiming the 22-year-old swimmer had broken an 11-year-old record by 38 seconds.
Trump also misgendered Thomas throughout and referred to her by the wrong pronouns.
"Did you see the man who was in a swimming team that I know very well?" he asked the crowd.
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"The record held for like 11 years, he beat it by 38 seconds."
Thomas came out as a trans woman in 2019 and competed at the 2021 Zippy Invitational as part of the University of Pennsylvania's team on December 3.
She didn't break the record Trump referred to, but instead broke three different records which weren't by a gap as wide as 38 seconds.
It didn't stop Thomas being attacked online however and compared to her competitors.
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Laurel Hubbard, a trans weightlifter, competed at the 2020 Olympics and also received backlash.
Trump was president between 2016 and 2020 before losing the election to Joe Biden.
The former reality TV star has attacked trans athletes before, stating last year that the integrity of women's sport is being challenged.
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"Joe Biden and the Democrats are pushing policies that would even destroy women’s sports," Trump claimed.
"Young girls and women are incensed that they are now being forced to compete against those who are biological males.
"It’s not good for women. It’s not good for women’s sports, who worked so long and so hard to get to where they are.
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"The records that stood for years, even decades, are now being smashed with these... Smashed!"
Trump recently called himself the '47th President of the United States' while playing golf and he intends to run for the presidency again in 2024.
Topics: Athletics
Daniel Marland