Fox News anchor Dana Perino blasted President Joe Biden’s plan to expand Title IX to include transgender students — and called out the women who had fought so hard to win Title IX protections but were silent as the administration put forth policies that would effectively dismantle them.
Perino made the comments during Thursday’s broadcast of “The Five,” arguing that Biden’s plan would erase the protections that many women had fought for — with regard to athletics in particular.
WATCH:
"They're erasing gender and women from the statute," @DanaPerino pans Biden plan to unravel Title IX. "Wokism will be mandatory, if you want to compete or don’t want to be expelled … That’s why these women who valiantly fought and now are silent, it’s shameful." pic.twitter.com/Fls3o0q7ck
— Virginia Kruta (@VAKruta) June 23, 2022
Former Congressman Harold Ford Jr. (D-TN) opened the conversation with a joke, asking Perino to weigh in since she once beat co-host Jesse Watters in a basketball shooting competition.
“I really didn’t, but I should have. I was robbed,” Perino laughed, before turning to the topic at hand.
“I’ve been baffled by why the women who fought for Title IX have been silent. They benefited tremendously. They gave a lot of women and young girls opportunities for scholarships and opportunities to compete,” Perino began.
She went on to note that athletes were often better students, and that participation in organized athletics often helped students to learn the skills they might need later in life, whether they went into the corporate world or started their own businesses.
“You learn about teamwork and loss and winning and being gracious. And you learn so many things from it,” Perino continued. “And I’ve been baffled. Like where is everybody that succeeded in this? Now I find – I’m no longer baffled. I think it is shameful. Now you have somebody like Riley Gaines, who has to get up her courage, find her strong voice, and be the one that’s going to say, ‘but what about us?'”
Perino then addressed the proposed rule changes directly, adding, “They’re erasing gender and women from the statute. So it’s like you don’t even need a statute anymore. They’re basically saying on the 50th anniversary of Title IX, let’s just do away with it because you don’t need women’s sports. The other thing I would point out, this is going to apply to all public schools and most universities, if the Biden rules go through, that using the wrong gender pronouns will now be considered sexual harassment. So wokism will be mandatory, if you want to compete or don’t want to be expelled. That’s what’s happening out there. And that’s why these women who valiantly fought, and now are silent, it’s shameful.”