During his keynote address before young conservatives at the Turning Point USA gathering Sunday, President-elect Donald Trump inexplicably vowed to put an end to the sport of women’s boxing.
Trump made the pronouncement after declaring that the country has entered a new “Golden Age”, thanks to his presidential victory.
“And, for all of us standing before you today, I can proudly proclaim that the Golden Age of America is upon us! It is. It’s going to be a golden age. It’s going to be a golden age. There’s a spirit that we have now that we didn’t have just a short while ago. Sadly, we didn’t have. Who the hell can have spirit watching women get beat up in a boxing ring? I don’t think that’s spirit, right? We’re going to end that one quick! We’re going to end it very quickly. We’re going to end that one very quickly.”
Although Trump has railed against transgender rights at past rallies and even misidentified at least two Olympic female boxers as men, Trump didn’t qualify Sunday’s comments by saying he wanted to ban only trans boxers — rather, he wants to end the entire sport.
In a September piece, Forbes reporter Antonio Pequeño IV wrote:
Trump falsely claimed two boxers “transitioned from men to women” and won gold medals, characterizing their victories as “demeaning to women,” though (Imane) Khelif and (Lin) Yu-Ting have participated in women’s boxing for the entirety of their careers, which date back to 2018 and 2013, respectively.
Speaking in Arizona…the former president referred to Khelif’s preliminary round win over Italian boxer Angela Carini, who abruptly withdrew from the match in round one after a strike to the nose, saying “this beautiful young woman from Italy” fought against a “man.”
An outright ban on women in combat sports may come as news to Trump’s good friend, Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White — who makes a fortune off of female fighters. In 2015, while promoting a fight card headlined by Ronda Rousey — which sold out a 70,000-seat stadium in Australia — White said that promoting women’s fights was the “best decision” he’s ever made.
Watch the clip above via Fox News.
