Trump stans Sophie Cunningham for trans athletes comment, and he's not alone

After WNBA player Sophie Cunningam made it clear to reporters where she stands on the issue of transgender athletes — following one paragraph in a nearly 5,000 word profile by ESPN — the floodgates of support poured open, with praise from the president of the United States to everyday Americans who feel as she does: "I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn't have to go against biological men.”

Sports and political pundit Stephen A. Smith said Cunningham “is a thousand percent right” on his SiriusXM Radio show Thursday, echoing transphobic talking points about trans athletes and ignoring the scientific evidence about whether trans women and girls have an advantage in sports.

“What if an NBA player decided to transition to playing in the WNBA?” Smith asked. “How elite would they be? How great would they be? We gotta put stuff in its proper perspective and call it like it is.”

Smith also said he supports establishing separate leagues for trans athletes, apparently unaware that something called the Negro League did something similar to Black professional baseball players until finally being disbanded in 1962.

Trump administration press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Washington Post and other reporters at the White House Thursday that President Donald Trump is personally “following” coverage of Cunningham’s remarks and has strong feelings about the issue.

“We want to protect women and girls,” Leavitt said, adding that Cunningham was speaking the “truth” about transgender female athletes. Leavitt was backed up by a post on X from the U.S. Department of Education, adding a crown atop Cunningham's head.

“And the backlash she is receiving from Democrats and left-wing figures across the country is astonishing,” Leavitt added.

She's referring to what Out reported, that Cunningham's transphobic dog-whistles, from loaded words like "protect" to "biological men," drew an immediate backlash from WNBA fans, sports writers, and athletes alike, all speaking out against Cunningham's remarks.

That backlash led a half-dozen reporters to confront the athlete Wednesday before she led the Indiana Fever in a blowout win over the Connecticut Sun.

“I think I said what I said,” Cunningham told the gaggle of reporters. “I think it’s kind of common sense. And I think I’ll always believe in that. I think it’s really important to protect children. And that’s little girls who are also involved in that category. And so I stand on what I said, and I always believe that.”

Cunningham was also asked if she's interested in a career in politics after she hangs up her hoops shoes.

“I don’t know. I’m not a very political person,” she said. “But I do have beliefs. I have morals, and I’ll always stand on those and be true to who I am. And I think people are going to take it how they want to take it, but I’ve never even really said anything about that. And so, when it comes just to protecting young girls in sport and women in sport, I feel very strongly about that. I think that’s why you have Title IX. That’s why you have some of the greats in women’s sports. If Title IX and women’s sports weren’t protected, then you wouldn’t hear about any type of women in sports. And so I think in the future it’s just really important to protect.”

When asked if she has any animus for trans people, Cunningham denied it, and repeated what she told ESPN, that she has "never once said I hated the trans community."

“Like I said, I extend love, and I don’t dislike anyone,” she began. “I think there is room for absolutely everyone here, and I think there’s room to love everyone. I truly think when you get people in the same room, and you have conversations, you actually have a lot in common with a lot of people. And so I’m there to love, but I’m also there to love biological women. And I think that there are rights that need to be protected. And like I said, I’m going to stand true to that. I’ll never falter in my beliefs in that. But I have never once said I hated the trans community. Like I said, I think there’s space for everyone.”

Not surprisingly, former tennis star Martina Navratilova — known for her anti-trans remarks — agreed with Cunningham's remarks and shared it in a post on X with her 480K followers, adding two applause emojis and one fistbump emoji.

And that side of the internet jumped on the bandwagon.

But not everyone is cheering for Cunningham.

This article originally appeared on Out: Trump stans Sophie Cunningham for trans athletes comment, and he's not alone