On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre (KJP) claimed that a reporter had used the word “dangerous” to describe transgender persons in the context of questions about the potential dangers of transgender women competing in sports traditionally reserved for women.
KJP was questioned by Owen Jensen, a journalist for EWTN White House, on the growing anxiety among the parents of female athletes who are compelled to compete against biologically male competitors during her daily news briefing with the White House press pool.
To start his inquiry, Jensen read aloud a tweet from Republican Alabama senator Tommy Tuberville, who called enabling biological males to play in women’s sports “unfair, unsafe, and wrong.” He also referred to a statement signed by seventy-two elite female athletes who said that competing against biological males is “unfair, but discriminatory and illegal.”
Jensen asked KJP what the president would say to the mothers and fathers who have daughters in high school who are worried that they may have to compete against a person born male and worry about their daughter’s safety.
After calling the situation “complicated,” KJP claimed that the reporter implied transgender athletes are “dangerous.”
Jensen denied he said that.
KJP said that he was saying their safety was at risk, and Jensen was using a broad brush of what could be potentially happening.
She said labeling transgender children as dangerous is a hazardous statement, framing it as if Jensen said the biological males are evil rather than just physically commanding.
She repeated that the situation was “complex” and that Jensen should contact the U.S. Department of Education for further inquiries, shutting down the conversation.
KJP obfuscated, ham-handed, and never answered the question.
Parents of female athletes worry that their daughters may be permanently harmed if they are forced to compete against biological men who are naturally stronger than them.
Payton McNabb, a high school volleyball player from North Carolina, said last autumn that a transgender athlete spiked her in the face, causing her to suffer a concussion and a neck injury.
Despite a new Gallup survey released this week revealing that most Americans believe transgender athletes should compete against individuals with the same biological gender, President Joe Biden has announced he will veto any laws that ban people born male from competing against people born female.
