When President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that he planned to reopen Alcatraz — the notorious island prison located just a little over a mile off the California coast near San Francisco — critics began to question just how &#8220;inescapable&#8221; it really was.
From 1934 to 1963, there were 14 documented escape attempts from <a href="https://www.gsa.gov/about-us/gsa-regions/region-9-pacific-rim/region-9-newsroom/feature-stories/the-captivating-history-of-alcatraz-island-from-military-fort-to-national-historic-landmark-05182020" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alcatraz</a> involving 36 inmates. Not all of those who attempted to escape even made it to the shoreline. Some who did make it into the water gave up and turned back after encountering the strong currents and frigid temperatures. Two were confirmed to have drowned, and another five were officially declared &#8220;missing and presumed drowned.&#8221;
The only prisoner known to have survived the swim was John Paul Scott, who made it to Fort Point under the Golden Gate Bridge in 1962 before he collapsed from hypothermia and exhaustion. He was found there, unconscious, and returned to the island prison after being treated at a nearby hospital.
But following Trump&#8217;s announcement, some noted that people now swim from Alcatraz to San Francisco on a fairly regular basis. There are even annually scheduled triathlons that include a swim from The Rock to shore, suggesting that maybe escaping the prison through the San Francisco Bay wouldn&#8217;t be as formidable to prisoners in the 21st century as it had been in years past.
Any prisoner who attempted to make that swim to freedom would have to survive about a mile and a half — or more, if the currents pushed them off course — of choppy water that typically registers between 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit, and they&#8217;d have to do it without the benefit of a wetsuit. With water at those temperatures, hypothermia can begin to set in within 30-60 minutes.
But as the critics say, people do it every year: people who have the luxury of weeks or even months of in-water training and coaching to learn how to maximize each movement and breathe efficiently. And, more importantly, people who have access to wetsuits and even a quick rescue if things go sideways.
An average swimmer can complete a one-mile swim in about 30 minutes, about two-thirds of the distance from Alcatraz to the shore. But that&#8217;s with regular training, and prisoners on the island would have no ability to train in the water. People who have made that swim assured The Daily Wire that it was not something to be undertaken lightly.
Former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines swam from Alcatraz to shore with a group of Navy SEALs in July of 2024, and she told The Daily Wire that she prepared by swimming in the bay the day before without a wetsuit.
&#8220;FREEZING. And this was in the middle of July. No way you&#8217;d survive in the colder months.&#8221;
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Successfully swam Alcatraz with a handful of the most impressive Navy Seals &amp; combat veterans.
It was such a fun (and cold) way to honor those who risk their lives for our great nation. God bless our troops!🇺🇸 <a href="https://t.co/kuwkaAXUNs">pic.twitter.com/kuwkaAXUNs</a>
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_/status/1811907603297108373?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Gaines said that in addition to the cold — even with a wetsuit for the full swim — she had to contend with &#8220;swimming directly into massive waves, major currents that change (sometimes they help, sometimes you&#8217;re swimming in place).&#8221;
&#8220;I had lots of seals and sea lions who were basically playing with me the entire time,&#8221; Gaines added. &#8220;They were so curious what I was doing they&#8217;d come up and nudge me. I swam with a pod of dolphins, maybe 15 to 20 or so. It was a good sign no sharks were around.&#8221;
Avid triathlete and fitness trainer Daniela Lavender participated in the &#8220;Escape from Alcatraz&#8221; triathlon in 2018, and she too mentioned the water temperature and the lengths to which athletes prepare for the experience. &#8220;Besides the wetsuits, we had neoprene caps and booties,&#8221; she said.
But one of the most important things, Lavender told The Daily Wire, was the fact that participants had kayakers with them to help guide them through the choppy waters — and redirect them if they started to stray from the best course to shore.
&#8220;You have to hit the current just right to have it shoot you in toward the shore,&#8221; she explained. &#8220;If you don&#8217;t hit it just right, it will sweep you out into the bay. It&#8217;s a hard thing to do because you really do have to hit that tide just right. They show you a building on the shore to aim for, but if the water is rough and the waves are big, that building is hard to see.&#8221;
&#8220;The depth of the water is a little bit stressful too,&#8221; Lavender added. &#8220;And of course the great whites are there. Not so much when we were there because they try to schedule the events around seasonal surges in the shark population, but they are there so you don&#8217;t want to get separated from the crowd. Don&#8217;t be first or last, I guess.&#8221;
Tarrant County Republican Party Chairman Bo French completed two triathlons at Alcatraz in the early 2000s, and he agreed that the water was frigid. Beyond that, he questioned whether anyone would be able to complete such a swim without the benefit of training.
&#8220;I was swimming maybe 5,000 to 7,000 yards, three times a week at the time,&#8221; he said. &#8220;[Without training] I don’t think it could be done. Swimming is 90% technique. You have to have that feel from training. It’s something you have to develop.&#8221;
French also noted that swimming in a large group with nearly 1,000 others competing in the triathlon actually eased any anxiety he might have had about running into the great white sharks that frequent the area: &#8220;In terms of the sharks, I figured if I was one of a thousand, my odds were pretty good.&#8221;
On a general note, French said that he was in favor of reopening the notorious prison. &#8220;I’m old enough to remember when Alcatraz had this mystique about it,&#8221; he explained.
&#8220;Love this. I actually swam Alcatraz twice (with a wetsuit of course). That place has an eerie feel to it. This will strike fear into criminals. More winning,&#8221; he posted on X.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Love this. I actually swam Alcatraz twice (with a wetsuit of course). That place has an eerie feel to it. This will strike fear into criminals. More winning. <a href="https://t.co/4wT4ilT0pa">https://t.co/4wT4ilT0pa</a>
— Bo French (@BoFrenchTX) <a href="https://twitter.com/BoFrenchTX/status/1919172465130910073?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;For me, I was like, this is amazing, this American institution is coming back — I think it is really going to send a message,&#8221; he said.
Rep. John McGuire (R-VA) also lauded Trump&#8217;s plan to reopen Alcatraz, calling it &#8220;a symbol of tough American justice&#8221; and a throwback to a &#8220;Golden Age&#8221; where criminals were met with swift justice and accountability rather than being sent right back to the streets by progressive prosecutors and judges.
That message hit home for him, and he referenced one criminal illegal alien who was released from jail four times in Virginia, after which he raped a teenage girl. &#8220;I&#8217;m a small government guy, but we have to keep our people safe,&#8221; he said.
McGuire, a veteran Navy SEAL (the sixth in Congress), swam from Alcatraz to shore with a group of SEALs for a charity several years ago, and he said that even for those in the best physical shape and whose training was &#8220;water-centric,&#8221; the support they got from kayakers in the water with them was of the utmost importance.
<div id="attachment_917881" style="width: 442px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-917881" class="wp-image-917881 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/IMG_1910-432x576.jpeg" alt="Photo courtesy of Rep. John McGuire" width="432" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/IMG_1910-432x576.jpeg 432w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/IMG_1910-225x300.jpeg 225w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/IMG_1910.jpeg 720w" sizes="(max-width: 432px) 100vw, 432px" />Photo courtesy of Rep. John McGuire</div>
&#8220;We had experts helping us to predict the currents and kayakers in the water who got updates over radios,&#8221; he said, noting that there were times when they had to change course in ways that seemed counterintuitive to avoid dangerous currents that could have swept them out to sea. &#8220;We had to swim in the opposite direction of where we wanted to go.&#8221;
&#8220;You can be super fit, but if you don&#8217;t have the right information [about the currents], you still won&#8217;t make it,&#8221; McGuire said. &#8220;If you swim at the wrong angle for even five minutes, you won&#8217;t make it.&#8221;
McGuire stressed the mental, emotional, and physical toughness that is ingrained into Navy SEALs during training, saying that all of those things were employed as they worked to combat the rough water, the freezing temperatures, and the grueling physical stress of the swim. He noted that the pace changed with the currents, and they had to know when to go all out and when they could back off in order to hit those currents just right.
The realization of how dangerous the swim was didn&#8217;t truly hit McGuire until he got out of the water, when he said a local approached and asked whether they were aware of just how many great white shark attacks happened in the area.
&#8220;They were local, so I figured they would know better about that than I would, coming from the east coast,&#8221; he said, and then he added the real kicker: &#8220;When we got to the beach, one of the kayakers told us that the biggest great white dorsal fin he&#8217;d ever seen went right by us right when we started the swim. Of course, we didn&#8217;t know that until we got out of the water, but it definitely added a little excitement.&#8221;

Alcatraz Swim

How Hard Would It Be To Swim From Alcatraz To Freedom? We Asked People Who’ve Done It.

How Hard Would It Be To Swim From Alcatraz To Freedom? We Asked People Who've Done It.

Crime

Criminal Justice

Donald Trump

Prison

Riley Gaines

Normally, I don&#8217;t consider myself much of a trendsetter, especially when it comes to the online discourse among middle-aged cosmopolitan liberal women. To the extent that these people talk about me at all, it&#8217;s usually to call me a misogynist or to praise my brief appearance on &#8220;Dancing with the Stars.&#8221; In any event, on a typical day, they certainly aren&#8217;t reading my social media feeds and watching my podcast in order to pick up new lingo. We can be certain of that much.
So I was more than a little surprised to see an article that was just published by The Guardian, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/24/womanosphere-conservative-women" target="_blank" rel="noopener">entitled</a>, &#8220;Now comes the ‘womanosphere’: the anti-feminist media telling women to be thin, fertile and Republican.&#8221; According to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/24/womanosphere-conservative-women" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this article</a>, the &#8220;womanosphere&#8221; is: 
<blockquote>&#8220;An organized effort to create &#8230; an alternative rightwing media ecosystem targeting young female US audiences – one of the few demographics that has, until now, leaned substantially Democratic.
This new &#8216;womanosphere&#8217; includes Brett Cooper’s channel as well as lifestyle magazines like the Conservateur and Evie, Candace Owens’s Club Candace, Alex Clark’s Maha (“Make America Healthy Again”) talkshow Culture Apothecary, conservative Christian influencer Allie Beth Stuckey’s Relatable, and swimmer turned anti-transgender activist Riley Gaines’s podcast Gaines For Girls.&#8221;</blockquote>
Before we get into the substance of this article, such as it is, I need to pull up something I wrote online a few weeks ago. <a href="https://x.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1907550102605946958" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Here&#8217;s what I wrote</a> at the time: 
<blockquote>We hear a lot about the &#8216;manosphere.&#8217;I think it’s time we start talking about the womansphere and the corrosive effect that these shrill, toxic feminist influencers are having on the minds of young women and their marriages.</blockquote>
So there you have it. Long before The Guardian demanded that everyone start talking about the &#8220;womanosphere,&#8221; I was demanding a public conversation about the &#8220;womansphere.&#8221; All they did was add an &#8220;o&#8221; in the middle, to change womansphere to woman-o-sphere, and then they completely changed the meaning of the word, as I was using it. To me, the womansphere are the anti-man, bitter feminists on TikTok. To them, the womanosphere is a collection of the most normal, and pleasant women you’ll ever meet. And of course the other problem is that no one at The Guardian knows what the word &#8220;woman&#8221; means. But other than that, you can&#8217;t deny the striking similarity between these two made-up words. If The Guardian actually made any money, this is the part where I&#8217;d start demanding royalties. But in this case, I&#8217;ll let it slide. As the old saying goes, great minds think alike. And the not-so-great minds just steal everything and pass it off as their own.
But I don&#8217;t want to dwell on how much money The Guardian owes me, even though it&#8217;s obviously substantial. The bigger issue with the article — as with everything else published by The Guardian — is the content. The tone for this particular hit piece is set right in the headline. We&#8217;re supposed to see the Right-wing &#8220;womanosphere&#8221; as somehow nefarious and sinister because it encourages women to be &#8220;thin and fertile,&#8221; as The Guardian puts it. These two words — &#8220;thin and fertile&#8221; — are like kryptonite to the staff of The Guardian, apparently. Now, you might observe that words like &#8220;thin and fertile&#8221; are just ways of describing someone as &#8220;healthy.&#8221; And you might wonder what&#8217;s so bad about the &#8220;womanosphere&#8221; encouraging women to be thin, fertile, and healthy. 
But all you&#8217;ll get from The Guardian is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/24/womanosphere-conservative-women" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this paragraph</a>: 
<blockquote>The type of woman these commentators valorize is thin, straight, fertile, traditionally feminine, conventionally attractive to men and white – though they try to avoid overt racism. &#8230; Anyone who falls outside of this narrow mold is subject to relentless mocking and disparagement.</blockquote>
Just to be clear here, the &#8220;narrow mold&#8221; that The Guardian is complaining about is simply being healthy, feminine, and attractive to males. (They do add that you have to be white as well, but they contradict themselves in the same breath, because one of the commentators they attack in this hit piece is Candace, who last I checked is not white). So all we&#8217;re left with is the &#8220;narrow&#8221; lane that literally billions of women throughout all of human history have fit through. That&#8217;s the virtually impossible standard that you have to meet, if you don&#8217;t want to be &#8220;relentlessly mocked and disparaged&#8221; by the online &#8220;womanosphere.&#8221;
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mws-ep-1583-member-exclusive?elementPosition=0&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=The+Matt+Walsh+Show&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Carousel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h3>
We all know why The Guardian believes that only a small subset of the female population can qualify as healthy. For one thing, they believe that men can become women. So that probably skews their perspective a bit, given that trans-identifying males aren&#8217;t usually paragons of physical fitness. Additionally, it&#8217;s long been established that Left-leaning individuals, wherever they are in the world, tend to be less healthy. 
Not too long ago, there was a <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5893220/#:~:text=Findings%20from%20cross%2Dsectional%20studies,report%20better%20self%2Drated%20health." target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> from researchers at Harvard and Columbia which found that: 
<blockquote>Findings from cross-sectional studies conducted in Japan and Europe have reported that individuals expressing a conservative ideology (as compared to liberal ideology) tend to report better self-rated health. In the USA, it has been reported that Republicans are less likely to report poor health in comparison to Democrats.</blockquote>
These findings shouldn&#8217;t surprise us, because an ideology that doesn&#8217;t care about personal responsibility isn&#8217;t going to have the healthiest followers. The only people who are surprised, apparently, are the writers for The Guardian. But in their confusion, they do manage to hint at one point that&#8217;s worth thinking about, which is this: The Left has decided to give the Right a monopoly on advocating for healthy lifestyles. It&#8217;s true that if someone these days promotes health, fitness, marriage, family life, et cetera, then we can assume that they&#8217;re probably conservative. All of that has become Right-wing coded. But that&#8217;s only because the Left has gone to war against everything healthy and normal. The Right is not dominating this issue because they&#8217;re mind-controlling women. They&#8217;re dominating the issue because the Left has abandoned it.
As this article continues, The Guardian doubles down on its attempt to make &#8220;being healthy&#8221; sound like an act of terrorism. 
At one point, they quote a piece from &#8220;Evie,&#8221; and then they have a coronary over it. So <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/24/womanosphere-conservative-women" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here&#8217;s the line</a> from Evie, followed by The Guardian&#8217;s meltdown:&#8220;&#8216;Our reproductive organs are made for just that – creating new life – not warding off sperm and altering our insides to make conception close to impossible,” read a recent Evie piece. 
Though some young women may recoil when conservative men like JD Vance and Elon Musk opine on birthrates and fertility, outlets like Evie are able to repackage a similar message in a more approachable way. Maggie Bullock, a women’s magazine veteran who co-writes the Spread, a newsletter about the industry, said she saw outlets like Evie as trying to be something of a &#8216;gateway drug&#8217; into more extreme conservative ideologies. &#8216;Like, we’re nice and we’re pretty and we’re not that radical, don’t worry, we’re just telling you the truth,&#8217; she said. &#8216;It feels like a wolf in sheep’s clothing.'&#8221;
So here we have Evie magazine stating that women&#8217;s reproductive organs are intended for reproduction. And The Guardian devotes about a thousand words to declaring how outrageous this statement is, even though it&#8217;s probably the least controversial thing that anyone can say in the English language. They even bring in an alleged expert — a &#8220;women&#8217;s magazine veteran&#8221; — to establish that Evie magazine is essentially a &#8220;gateway drug&#8221; to extremism, because they don&#8217;t think women should sterilize themselves.
What&#8217;s especially amusing about the accusations that this article makes — against Brett Cooper, Riley Gaines, Candace Owens, Allie Beth Stuckey, Alex Clark, and so on — is that, first of all, the article wants us to see these women as a dark and sinister force. But I know all of them. Allie I’ve known for years. Riley I&#8217;ve met a few times. I went on Alex’s show a few months ago. Brett and Candace are both friends. They are some of the nicest, most cheerful people you&#8217;ll ever meet.
The article uses words like “scary&#8221; to describe them, which is just hilarious from my vantage point. Or the vantage point of anyone who has watched any of their shows. Although I will say that Alex forced me to drink raw milk when I was on her show, and that was deeply disturbing, and also dangerous to my health. But aside from that, it was not a very scary experience.
The other thing is that all of them of course have jobs. And yet The Guardian concludes that all of these women, in reality, want women to be nothing but &#8220;submissive homemakers&#8221; who <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/24/womanosphere-conservative-women">never leave the home</a> for any reason: 
<blockquote>While the women behind these outlets all have different styles and tactics, they are mostly aligned in their desire to return to a gender-essentialist worldview: women as submissive homemakers, men as strong providers.</blockquote>
First of all, any time you hear a phrase like &#8220;gender-essentialist&#8221; being used unironically, you can immediately stop paying attention to the person who says it. The term is nonsense because everyone, in a sane world, is a &#8220;gender essentialist.&#8221; Everyone should understand that gender is an essential concept, because it&#8217;s what allows human beings to reproduce. It also dramatically affects human behavior in every significant way. So if someone calls you a &#8220;gender essentialist,&#8221; the appropriate response is &#8220;yes, I am.&#8221; And by the way, the Left is also &#8220;gender essentialist,&#8221; albeit in a completely demented way. They don&#8217;t understand the concept of gender, but they certainly obsess over it, as you may have noticed. They take their fake genders extremely seriously over there. It is an essential concept in their worldview. Just in a very confused way.
The other irony here is that it&#8217;s The Guardian that wants these women — like Brett Cooper and Candace Owens — to be silent, apparently. They’ve written a gigantic article about how all of these women should shut up and stop expressing their views. Apparently they can&#8217;t grasp the idea that, as I&#8217;ve said many times, different people can choose to do different things. I&#8217;ve gone on record many times saying that, in general, women should prioritize raising families, and men should prioritize providing for their families. That doesn&#8217;t mean that women should never have a career under any circumstances. And obviously, all of the women that The Guardian is attacking in this article, would also agree with that statement, because they all have lucrative careers of their own.
We could go on for the next hour picking apart this article, but it&#8217;s honestly not worth the time. But it is worth noticing one aspect of this issue that The Guardian doesn&#8217;t talk about. Throughout all of this angst and misdirected, incoherent frustration, the one thing The Guardian doesn&#8217;t do is grapple with the fact that the alternative to the &#8220;womanosphere&#8221; has already been tried. And it has completely and utterly failed. The alternative to the &#8220;narrow&#8221; lane espoused by Brett, Candace, and company is the lane of Left-wing secular feminism where women find their purpose in the workplace and either reject family and marriage altogether, or place it second in importance to the pursuit of professional success. It’s the lane where a woman doesn&#8217;t submit to her husband, but instead submits to her employer — who as it happens is often also a man. It’s the lane where a woman is so committed to her independence and autonomy that she will purchase it with the blood of her own children, which is the whole point of abortion.
We&#8217;ve tried the feminist approach for a few generations. It is actually the new thing. The trendy thing.The narrow thing. And how has it worked out? Divorce rates have skyrocketed. The institution of the family is in shambles. And, by all available metrics (including the prevalence of antidepressants), women (and men) are miserable. Here&#8217;s just one indicator. For more than 20 years, Gallup has asked women if they&#8217;re happy with how they&#8217;re being treated by &#8220;society,&#8221; whatever that means exactly. And in 2022, Gallup <a href="https://www.apa.org/monitor/2022/03/numbers-women-society" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recorded</a> the lowest level of satisfaction among women since they began asking the question. Yes, after all of the alleged advancements in &#8220;women&#8217;s rights&#8221; over the last twenty years, women believe they&#8217;re more oppressed than ever.
But you don&#8217;t need Gallup to tell you that. You can either talk to women who made the decision to enter the workforce, or you can go on TikTok. Every day there&#8217;s another viral video of some young woman in tears because she went out into the working world and found it horrifically dreary, depressing, and demoralizing. We’ve seen the alternative to women being thin and fertile and prioritizing their families. It has been a disaster. We got millions of broken homes, millions of dead children, and millions of extremely depressed but allegedly liberated women to show for it.
The traditional approach has thousands of years of success under its belt. The new approach crashed and burned 30 seconds after takeoff. The Guardian is using the lame new &#8220;womanosphere&#8221; branding to suggest the opposite — they want to suggest that this is some dangerous new Right-wing ideology. But it&#8217;s not. It happens to be the ideology that clearly works best for everyone, including women. It’s the philosophy that built human civilization and maintained it and helped it thrive for millennia, up until the last several decades. The Guardian might not know what women are, or what they want. But these women do. And the more the Left mocks them for wanting to be healthy and to raise families, the more women will turn away from Leftism, until the only women left supporting Democrats are men with wigs on. That is the Democrat Party&#8217;s absolute worst nightmare. And with every garbage article like this one, that nightmare for Democrats — otherwise known as progress to the rest of us — is becoming more and more real by the day.

The Guardian Newpaper To Stop Using Elon Musk’s Social Media Platform

The Left Uncovers The Sinister Conspiracy Pushing Women To Be Healthy And Happy

Brett Cooper

Candace Owens

Feminism

Leftists

Matt Walsh

Opinion

The Guardian

Traditional Marriage

Women

WASHINGTON—Attorney General Pam Bondi announced a civil lawsuit against the state of Maine on Wednesday for officials&#8217; refusal to protect girls&#8217; and women&#8217;s spaces and sports per Title IX rules.
A fiery Bondi announced the lawsuit and scolded Maine leaders, noting that the Trump administration tried its best to get Maine to comply before it filed suit.
&#8220;We have no other choice, we are taking them to court,&#8221; Bondi said.
The AG was joined at the presser by Maine state lawmaker Rep. Laurel Libby (R), female fencer <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/female-fencer-speaks-out-after-shes-expelled-for-protesting-male-opponent" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stephanie Turner</a>, female rights advocate Riley Gaines, numerous female athletes from Maine, and others.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
NEW: <a href="https://twitter.com/AGPamBondi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AGPamBondi</a> announces a civil lawsuit against Maine for refusing to protect women and women’s sports and spaces. <a href="https://t.co/6q0jtXkJwO">pic.twitter.com/6q0jtXkJwO</a>
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) <a href="https://twitter.com/MaryMargOlohan/status/1912483114351317390?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
A copy of the lawsuit, which was obtained by Daily Wire reporter Mary Margaret Olohan, says the United States is suing Maine over its Department of Education &#8220;openly and defiantly flouting federal anti-discrimination law by enforcing policies that require girls to compete against boys in athletic competitions designed exclusively for girls.&#8221;
The suit is seeking to get Maine to stop its noncompliance with federal law and also seeks to grant females who were passed over by males their appropriate awards.
Bondi also said the department is looking at possibly retroactively pulling funding the state of Maine received for not complying in the past.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none">
a case of FAFO: <a href="https://t.co/fYRF6El4Kg">pic.twitter.com/fYRF6El4Kg</a>
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) <a href="https://twitter.com/MaryMargOlohan/status/1912484747726512273?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
During the presser, Bondi cited a male athlete taking first place in a state final for girls&#8217; pole vaulting, which was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/boy-wins-girls-pole-vault-championship-in-maine-days-after-state-pledged-to-defy-trump-order" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first reported by The Daily Wire</a>. &#8220;He beat every female by a significant margin, qualifying him for regional championships. That took a spot away from a young woman,&#8221; Bondi said.
Last year, another male athlete competed in female ski and cross-country races in Maine and finished first in the women&#8217;s 5k. His time would have placed him 43rd if he were competing with fellow males, a DOJ press release said.
Gaines, who spoke at the presser, thanked President Donald Trump for protecting girls and said, &#8220;Accountability is back in the White House.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Riley_Gaines_</a>, speaking at DOJ, details all the ways women have been harmed by men in their spaces — and censored for speaking out.
These abuses aren’t happening in Afghanistan or the UK, she says. They’re happening in the USA.
“Accountability is back in the White House.” <a href="https://t.co/CAAlYUj4gc">pic.twitter.com/CAAlYUj4gc</a>
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) <a href="https://twitter.com/MaryMargOlohan/status/1912487694397059358?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
In February, Maine’s Democratic Governor Janet Mills got into a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-spars-with-maines-dem-governor-over-men-in-womens-sports-at-white-house" target="_blank" rel="noopener">public spat with President Trump</a> when she refused to comply with the president’s order barring males from girls’ sports, <a href="https://x.com/TheMaineWire/status/1904334942999363625" target="_blank" rel="noopener">arguing</a> that she was following state law.
Subsequently, numerous Maine officials and organizations followed Mills&#8217; lead and refused to comply with Title IX, sparking numerous investigations and rule violation findings.
Notably, it was found that the state also placed a convicted male murderer who identifies as female into a female correctional facility.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-trump-trans-athletes-womens-sports-maine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">EXCLUSIVE POLL: Maine Voters Side With Trump On Keeping Men Out Of Women’s Sports</a>

Pam Bondi, Janet Mills

Bondi Unleashes On Maine, Announces New Lawsuit Against State For Violating Title IX

Courts

Department of Justice

Maine

Pam Bondi

Politics

Title IX

Transgender

Transgender Athletes

Megyn Kelly and more celebrated President Donald Trump’s comments about how transgenders can never be women, no matter what they do.
Speaking at the Women&#8217;s History Month event in the East Room of the White House, Trump pointed to the Executive Order he signed that the United States will only recognize two genders.
“For four long years, we had an administration that tried to abolish the very concept of womanhood and replace it with radical gender ideology &#8230; Under the Trump administration, we&#8217;re ending the Marxist war on women,” Trump <a href="https://x.com/GBNEWS/status/1904986924692959382">said</a>.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
President Trump Participates in a Women&#8217;s History Month Event <a href="https://t.co/uoUsXcEjse">https://t.co/uoUsXcEjse</a>
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1904980329602945489?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
“No matter how many surgeries you have, or chemicals you inject, if you are born with male DNA in every cell of your body, you can never become a woman,” he added. “You&#8217;re not going to be a woman.”
“And that’s why last month I proudly signed a historic executive order to ban [trans-identifying] men from competing in women’s sports,” Trump continued, noting that he also banned “puberty blockers and the sexual mutilation of minors.”
During the event Trump also talked about how it was a day to &#8220;honor the legacy of incredible women like Betsy Ross, Harriet Tubman, Susan B. Anthony, Clara Barton, and Amelia Earhart, all legends. And their extraordinary courage and patriotism and devotion propelled our nation to glory and to greatness.”
The comments about trans-identifying males — and the fact that they can never be women — drew praise from outspoken female advocates like the host of Sirius XM&#8217;s “The Megyn Kelly Show” podcast and former collegiate female swimmer Riley Gaines, among others.
“PREACH, Mr. President!” Kelly wrote on <a href="https://x.com/megynkelly/status/1904995596261347448">X</a>, sharing a clip of Trump’s comments from the event.
Riley Gaines wrote,“‘No matter how many surgeries you have, or chemicals you inject, if you are born with male DNA in every cell of your body, you can never become a woman. You&#8217;re not going to be a woman.’ LOUDER PLEASE!!!!”
TPUSA’s Charlie Kirk <a href="https://x.com/charliekirk11/status/1904989850400678006">wrote</a>, “Finally, America once again has a president who will mark Women&#8217;s History Month by honoring actual women.‘No matter how many surgeries you have, or chemicals you inject, if you are born with male DNA in every cell of your body, you can never become a woman.’ Amen!”
During the 2024 election, Kelly spoke at a Trump campaign event and said the reason she was voting for him was because he would protect women and look out “for our forgotten boys and men.”
“The boys should not be in the girl’s sports. The boys should not be in the girl’s bathrooms,” the podcast host said. “He [Trump] got mocked by the left for saying that he would be a protector of women. He will be a protector of women and it’s why I’m voting for him.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/surrounded-by-young-female-athletes-donald-trump-bans-men-from-womens-sports" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Surrounded By Young Female Athletes, Donald Trump Bans Men From Women’s Sports</a>

Donald Trump Women Event

Megyn Kelly, Riley Gaines Celebrate Trump’s Comments About Women And Trans-Identifying Men

Celebrities

Entertainment

Megyn Kelly

Transgenders

Women's sports

Meghan McCain sparred with TV host Andy Cohen on Tuesday over trans-identifying men playing in women’s sports.
It all started on <a href="https://x.com/MeghanMcCain/status/1896914200791838737">X</a> when the former co-host of “The View” shared the news that 19-year-old female volleyball player Payton McNabb, who sustained a traumatic brain injury after a transgender-identifying male spiked a volleyball into her head, was invited to be a special guest of President Donald Trump’s at his Joint Address to Congress on Tuesday.
“I have had the pleasure of meeting Payton &#8211; she is incredibly smart, strong and brave. Both she and her family have been through the unthinkable,” McCain’s post read.
“Democrats defending young women suffering from traumatic brain injuries as a result of trans athletes is why they will continue losing every election,” she added, noting how Democrats in the Senate blocked the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act&#8221; on Monday.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I have had the pleasure of meeting Payton &#8211; she is incredibly smart, strong and brave. Both she and her family have been through the unthinkable.
Democrats defending young women suffering from traumatic brain injuries as a result of trans athletes is why they will continue… <a href="https://t.co/YQf6SVtjAW">https://t.co/YQf6SVtjAW</a>
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) <a href="https://twitter.com/MeghanMcCain/status/1896914200791838737?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
In response, Cohen took to <a href="https://x.com/Andy/status/1896926410822013308">X</a> and wrote, “surprised you’re buying into the vilification of the trans community given the real problems happening in this country, your previous ally-ship of the lgbtq community, and the fact that this non issue affects about four people in this country.”
McCain hit back, <a href="https://x.com/MeghanMcCain/status/1896928345935466758">writing</a>, “Surprised you’re okay with violence against female athletes. Peyton suffered serious brain damage &#8211; just one story. You have my cell, always happy to talk privately or publicly on either of our shows because these conversations are reductive to hash out on social media.”
A short time later, McNabb saw Cohen&#8217;s dismissive post about the dangers of trans-identifying men playing in women&#8217;s sports and wrote on <a href="https://x.com/paytonmcnabb_/status/1897008078492454999" target="_blank" rel="noopener">X</a>, &#8220;Andy, calling the protection of women’s sports a ‘non-issue’ that affects ‘four people’ is not just dismissive—it’s factually wrong.&#8221;
&#8220;Hundreds of female athletes have lost podium spots, scholarships, and opportunities,&#8221; she added. &#8220;My own injury was life-changing. And even if it were just one girl, that’s one too many. This is about fairness and safety, not ‘vilification.'&#8221;
McCain wasn&#8217;t the only person who slammed the move by Senate Democrats after a motion to invoke cloture on Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-AL) “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act” failed on Monday by a <a href="https://x.com/CraigCaplan/status/1896714793031188630" target="_blank" rel="noopener">51-45</a> vote. A three-fifths majority — or 60 votes — was needed to cap the debate and proceed to a final vote for passage sometime in the future.
Other outspoken advocates for women’s sports, like <a href="https://x.com/megynkelly/status/1896751618697383986" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Megyn Kelly</a> and Riley Gaines, took to social media and said the Democrats should be shamed for failing to protect young girls.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/we-see-you-new-ad-calls-out-ncaa-for-new-transgender-policy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">‘We See You’: New Ad Calls Out NCAA For New Transgender Policy</a>

Meghan McCain

Meghan McCain Spars With Bravo’s Andy Cohen Over Trans-Identifying Men In Women’s Sports

Democrats

A new ad from the pro-woman brand XX-XY Athletics calls out the NCAA for a new transgender policy that women’s sports advocates warn will still allow a possible loophole for trans-identifying males to continue to compete in women’s sports.
The ad — shared by Riley Gaines on <a href="https://x.com/Riley_Gaines_/status/1894764315250491500">X</a> — from the company’s founder Jennifer Sey, showcases female athletes who’ve lost out on opportunities because of male trans-identifying athletes and those who have faced attacks for standing up for themselves and other girls.
“We see you NCAA,” the ad starts out. “You announced a new policy after [President Donald] Trump’s executive order, this policy does not protect females. It sets no clear boundary.”
“This policy does nothing to ensure women’s sports are for women only,” the athletes added. “You said you were going to comply with federal law, but you didn’t. Your policy is based on a birth certificate. That’s the proof required. But it’s no proof of sex.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The new NCAA policy is in direct conflict with President Trumps beautifully written Executive Order, &#8220;Keeping Men Out of Women&#8217;s Sports&#8221;.
We see you, <a href="https://twitter.com/NCAA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NCAA</a><a href="https://t.co/6QHTXozSVr">pic.twitter.com/6QHTXozSVr</a>
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_/status/1894764315250491500?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
Gaines and others in the ad point out that in 44 states birth certificates can be altered.
The ad closes with a call to the NCAA to go back to the drawing board and fix the policy, warning the governing body that athletes and women’s sports advocates can see right through what it appears the NCAA is attempting to do.
“We see you [NCAA President] Charlie Baker,” the female sports players concluded. “We see you NCAA. We see you … you tried to silence us but we are not going away. Young athletes are depending on us. Depending on you. And if you won’t stand up for female athletes, we will.”
Gaines, Sage Steele, and other women’s sports advocates recently warned that there was a loophole in the NCAA policy that could be exploited to allow trans-identifying male athletes to compete against women.
Speaking to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/sports/ncaas-new-trans-participation-policy-as-clear-mud-riley-gaines-says?utm_campaign=feed&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=later-linkinbio">Fox News</a>, the former collegiate female swimmer said that the new policy is “explicitly in conflict” with Trump’s executive order, which asserts an outright ban on biological men competing in women’s sports.
NCAA announced its new policy for “student-athletes ‘assigned male at birth’ and their participation on women’s teams” following Trump’s EO, which uses “gender identity” language instead of male and female definition for sex. It is that “gender identity” language that has Gaines and other advocates for girls sports concerned.
“No. 1, first and foremost, this policy removes all accountability from the NCAA, which, of course, is something that has been on their minds for a long time,” Gaines said. “It provides loopholes for both states and schools because it does not define sex, which we have seen now is a problem, unfortunately.”
“I mean, it’s wild we have to define sex-based terms like male and female, but we’ve seen what happens when we don’t,” she added, noting that all but 6 states in the U.S. allow birth certificates to be altered.
A spokesperson for the NCAA told the outlet, “The policy is clear that there are no waivers available, and athletes assigned male at birth may not compete on a women’s team with amended birth certificates or other forms of ID.”
Despite NCAA comments, Gaines expressed concern and said “the policy is as clear as mud.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/riley-gaines-sage-steele-warn-about-possible-ncaa-loophole-for-trans-identifying-male-athletes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Riley Gaines, Sage Steele Warn About Possible NCAA Loophole For Trans-Identifying Male Athletes</a>

Trans Sports

‘We See You’: New Ad Calls Out NCAA For New Transgender Policy

NCAA

Sports

Riley Gaines, Sage Steele, and other women’s sports advocates are warning about a possible NCAA loophole that could allow trans-identifying male athletes to compete in women’s sports.
Speaking to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/sports/ncaas-new-trans-participation-policy-as-clear-mud-riley-gaines-says?utm_campaign=feed&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=later-linkinbio">Fox News</a>, the former collegiate female swimmer said that the new NCAA policy is &#8220;explicitly in conflict&#8221; with President Donald Trump’s executive order, which bans biological men from competing in women’s sports.
NCAA announced its new policy for “student-athletes &#8216;assigned male at birth&#8217; and their participation on women’s teams” following Trump’s EO, which uses “gender identity” language instead of male and female definition for sex. And it is this “gender identity” language that has Gaines and other advocates for girls sports concerned.
&#8220;No. 1, first and foremost, this policy removes all accountability from the NCAA, which, of course, is something that has been on their minds for a long time,&#8221; Gaines said. &#8220;It provides loopholes for both states and schools because it does not define sex, which we have seen now is a problem, unfortunately.”
“I mean, it’s wild we have to define sex-based terms like male and female, but we’ve seen what happens when we don’t,” she added. “We see unelected bureaucrats go through the back door and reinterpret these words to mean what they want them to mean.”
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&#8220;So, it doesn’t define sex, it doesn’t define male or female, but it does define gender identity,” Gaines continued. “And it defines gender identity as both man and woman. So, of course, you can see where that’s a problem. The qualifications for how they do deem and assign sex is based on your birth certificate, which of course is a piece of paper that we have now seen that can be totally forged and fraudulent.&#8221;
Gaines pointed out the fact that 44 states allow a birth certificate to be altered to change a person’s birth sex.
&#8220;This policy explicitly allows men and women on the women’s team. No matter how you read it, men are still allowed to receive women’s benefits, which includes access to their locker rooms,&#8221; Gaines said. “There’s no screening. There’s no oversight. All of those and more are just a few reasons why this NCAA policy is certainly problematic.”
Gaines&#8217; comments follow ones by former ESPN host Sage Steele who wrote on X, “So @realDonaldTrump signs an EO to protect women’s sports, and this is how the @NCAA amended its policy: men who identify as women can still practice with women, dress in women’s spaces, and even receive scholarships meant for women.  Shame on you @CharlieBakerMA.”
“To be clear: many women’s sports have men PRACTICE with them,” she <a href="https://x.com/sagesteele/status/1892287057826869625">added</a>. “With parameters, of course.  All good. The rest of it is the issue. The common sense stuff. Again, Congress needs to pass The Protection of Women &amp; Girls in Sports Act to FORCE the @NCAA and states like California to comply. @SenTuberville.”
A spokesperson for the NCAA told the outlet, “The policy is clear that there are no waivers available, and athletes assigned male at birth may not compete on a women’s team with amended birth certificates or other forms of ID.”
Despite NCAA comments, Gaines expressed concern and said &#8220;the policy is as clear as mud.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/espn-torched-for-woke-post-about-trumps-eo-banning-men-from-womens-sports" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ESPN Torched For Woke Post About Trump’s EO Banning Men From Women’s Sports</a>

Capitol Hill

Riley Gaines, Sage Steele Warn About Possible NCAA Loophole For Trans-Identifying Male Athletes

Riley Gaines, Sage Steele Warn Against Possible NCAA Loophole For Trans-Identifying Male Athletes

Sage Steele

NFL legend Brett Favre said it’s “absolutely insane” that President Donald Trump had to sign an executive order to keep men from competing in women’s sports.
In a video posted on <a href="https://x.com/BrettFavre/status/1889831543008534540">X</a>, the NFL Hall-of-Famer gave credit to Trump for signing an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/keeping-men-out-of-womens-sports/">order</a> banning trans-identifying males from competing in girls’ sports by threatening to rescind funds from schools that allow this, saying it “results in the endangerment, humiliation, and silencing of women and girls and deprives them of privacy,” as previously reported.
Favre said as the father of two daughters &#8212; who’ve advised him to not share everything on social media &#8212; this was an issue he thought it was important to speak out about and stand up for what he believes in.
&#8220;And it’s crazy because most of it is common sense and to think we’re having a discussion that our president has to sign (an executive order) to keep men out of women’s sports is absolutely insane,” the legendary QB said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Here’s a few reasons why I think it was important to speak up for <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a> needing to sign an executive order to keep men and out of women’s sports and kudos to <a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Riley_Gaines_</a> for standing her ground. <a href="https://t.co/oLLvFUxhXp">pic.twitter.com/oLLvFUxhXp</a>
— Brett Favre (@BrettFavre) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrettFavre/status/1889831543008534540?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 13, 2025</a></blockquote>
&#8220;But that’s the world we’re in right now,” he added. “We bought ourselves some time in the next four years. We’ll see how that plays out. But the common sense part of our country and the decisions that are being made, right now, are becoming more stable and back to the norm.”
“I feel like the more we speak up and back common sense thinking, the better off we’re gonna be,” Favre concluded.
Favre captioned his post explaining why he needed to speak up after Trump signed the executive order and gave credit to outspoken women’s sports advocates like Riley Gaines for “standing her ground.”
The Super Bowl-winning QB previously spoke out against transgenderism and the radical activists pushing it, calling it “wrong” that a trans-identifying man can use a women’s bathroom.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/this-is-wrong-nfl-hall-of-famer-brett-favre-slams-transgenderism" target="_blank" rel="noopener">‘This Is Wrong’: NFL Hall Of Famer Brett Favre Slams Transgenderism</a>

Carolina Panthers v San Francisco 49ers

Brett Favre Says It’s ‘Absolutely Insane’ Trump Has To Sign Order To Keep Men Out Of Women’s Sports

Brett Favre Says It's 'Absolutely Insane' Trump Has To Sign Order To Keep Men Out Of Women's Sports

Brett Favre

Social Issues

U.S.

President Donald Trump&#8217;s nominee to run the Department of Education made it clear on Thursday that she would uphold Title IX as it was originally written, to protect biological women and girls in athletics and school settings.
Linda McMahon, who served as head of the Small Business Administration during Trump&#8217;s first term in office, testified on Thursday that she believed girls should &#8220;feel safe&#8221; when they went to the locker room to change and walked out onto the court or the field to compete.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Women should feel safe in their locker rooms. They should feel safe in their spaces. They shouldn&#39;t have to be exposed to men undressing in front of them&#8230;.We want to make sure Title IX, which is the law, is enforced&quot; &#8211; Linda McMahon on Title IX 
100%. Confirm <a href="https://twitter.com/Linda_McMahon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Linda_McMahon</a>! <a href="https://t.co/GEZoZ2Uuwe">pic.twitter.com/GEZoZ2Uuwe</a>
&mdash; Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_/status/1890089599499903366?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 13, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;We are really back to what Title IX was originally established to do, and that was to protect [against] sexual discrimination,&#8221; McMahon said. &#8220;And women should feel safe in their locker rooms. They should feel safe in their spaces. They shouldn&#8217;t have to be exposed to men undressing in front of them — I think I heard one person the other day say, &#8216;Well, the guys should hold a shower curtain in front of them so that they aren&#8217;t exposing themselves.'&#8221;
&#8220;I mean, really, that&#8217;s just not what we should be doing,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;We want to make sure Title IX, which is the law, is enforced.&#8221;
Former President Joe Biden attempted to unilaterally rewrite Title IX to hinge on gender identity rather than biological sex, but his changes were rejected in court.
McMahon also listed several key strategies she planned to introduce if confirmed as Education Secretary:
<ul>
<li>Listen to parents not politicians.</li>
<li>Build up careers not college debt.</li>
<li>Empower states not special interests.</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
President Trump&#39;s nominee to run, and sunset, the Department of Education, Linda McMahon, is absolutely CRUSHING her confirmation hearing:
&quot;Listen to parents not politicians.&quot;
&quot;Build up careers not college debt.&quot;
&quot;Empower states not special interests.&quot;
Tired of winning yet? <a href="https://t.co/vi3Z3RG0rh">pic.twitter.com/vi3Z3RG0rh</a>
&mdash; Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) <a href="https://twitter.com/charliekirk11/status/1890082571083739475?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 13, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;I&#8217;m really all for the President&#8217;s mission, which is to return education to the states. I believe, as he does, that the best education is closest to the child,&#8221; she added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Linda McMahon: &quot;I&#39;m really all for the President&#39;s mission, which is to return education to the states.
The best education is closest to the child.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/SacoBcC9T7">pic.twitter.com/SacoBcC9T7</a>
&mdash; Corey A. DeAngelis, school choice evangelist (@DeAngelisCorey) <a href="https://twitter.com/DeAngelisCorey/status/1890063186675851335?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 13, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Trump has said that his end goal is to eradicate the federal Department of Education, returning the duties to the states.

Secretary of Education nominee Linda McMahon

Trump Nominee For Education Sec. Goes All In On Protecting Girls, Title IX

Department of Education

Education

Girls

Women Sports

The Trump administration demanded on Tuesday that the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ncaa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NCAA</a> strip the records and awards of the male athletes who competed in female sports at the collegiate and high school levels because of their transgender identity.
The Department of Education wrote a letter to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) demanding that they take action to restore the awards, records, and titles that female athletes would have won had they not been displaced by male athletes who identified as female.
“The NCAA and NFHS should also immediately act to rectify the injustices that female athletes across the nation endured during the years that NCAA and NFHS policies promoted and facilitated men competing on women’s teams,” Deputy General Council Candice Jackson wrote.
The letter, written to NCAA President Charlie Baker and NFHS President Bob Lombardi, said that the Education Department would be enforcing Title IX to “hold educational institutions accountable for depriving female athletes of the awards, records, points, prizes, titles, trophies, announcements or other recognition assigned in favor of male athletes who were allowed to compete in female sports.”
This would mean stripping male athletes who identified as female, like University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, who won the women’s NCAA Division 1 championship in the 500-yard freestyle, of their accolades.
“Whether the number of records in women’s events attributed to men is 1 or 1 million, every official record of women’s performances must accurately reflect the achievements of female athletes, not of male ones,” Jackson wrote.
Riley Gaines, who competed against Thomas, and shared a fifth place result with him at the women’s 200-meter NCAA championships back in 2022, praised the Education Department.
“Restoring stolen athletic accolades to their rightful owners is a crucial step towards reinstating accountability, integrity, and common sense – one that I wholeheartedly support,” she said.
The letter also pointed to an executive order from President Donald Trump that strips funding from schools that force female athletes to compete with males and instructs the Education Department to enforce Title IX against schools that allow trans-identifying males in women’s sports or force girls to share locker rooms with males. One day later, the NCAA <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ncaa-backs-down-changes-transgender-athlete-policy-after-trump-order" target="_blank" rel="noopener">changed its policy</a> to keep sports segregated by sex.
“While NCAA has amended its policy to state that a male may not compete for a women’s team, officially correcting the records is another critical step in rectifying the miscarriage of justice against female athletes allowed under the Biden Administration and giving female athletes the recognition they rightfully earned,” Senior Advisor for the Office of Communication in the Department of Education Julie Hartman told The Daily Wire.

NCAA SWIMMING: MAR 18 Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships

Trump Admin Tells NCAA To Strip Records Of Male Athletes Who Competed In Women’s Sports

College sports

Lia Thomas

Swimming

Trump Administration

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/riley-gaines" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Riley Gaines</a> reflected on her years-long journey to help protect female sports on Thursday, just days after she was in the White House with President Donald Trump while he signed an executive order banning males from female athletics.
Swimming for the University of Kentucky, Gaines and other female swimmers were forced to compete against a male swimmer named Lia (formerly Will) Thomas during the 2022 NCAA women’s swimming championship. Gaines and Thomas tied for fifth place in a race, but the trophy was given to only Thomas at the award ceremony. Gaines spoke about the NCAA&#8217;s actions and dedicated herself to advocating for female sports and athletes.
&#8220;I wish I could&#8217;ve told the girl in this photo what was to come in 2025,&#8221; Gaines posted on X, captioning a photo of herself next to Thomas at the tournament. &#8220;She felt cheated, betrayed, and violated. I&#8217;m just glad that girl trusted God and took a leap of faith by stating the obvious when it wasn&#8217;t popular.&#8221;
&#8220;It was true then and it&#8217;s true now. He&#8217;s a man,&#8221; she added, referring to Thomas.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I wish I could&#8217;ve told the girl in this photo what was to come in 2025. She felt cheated, betrayed, and violated.
I&#8217;m just glad that girl trusted God and took a leap of faith by stating the obvious when it wasn&#8217;t popular. It was true then and it&#8217;s true now. He&#8217;s a man. <a href="https://t.co/OtVbJfvKCl">pic.twitter.com/OtVbJfvKCl</a>
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_/status/1887614942519365693?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
Gaines also thanked Kellie-Jay Keen, who led a protest against the inclusion of Thomas, a male, at the NCAA women&#8217;s final.
&#8220;I specifically want to thank those who&#8217;ve been fighting far longer than me. Women like [Kellie-Jay Keen] gave me courage without even knowing it at the time,&#8221; Gaines wrote. &#8220;Too many to thank, but nonetheless, we&#8217;re celebrating the wins.&#8221;
Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/surrounded-by-young-female-athletes-donald-trump-bans-men-from-womens-sports" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed an executive order</a> on Wednesday to withhold funds from programs and schools that allow males to compete in female athletics.
“It is the policy of the United States to rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities, which results in the endangerment, humiliation, and silencing of women and girls and deprives them of privacy,” the order <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/surrounded-by-young-female-athletes-donald-trump-bans-men-from-womens-sports" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reads</a>. “It shall also be the policy of the United States to oppose male competitive participation in women’s sports more broadly, as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth.”
Following the signing of the EO, Gaines spoke to Daily Wire White House Correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan.
“What we saw today is in total contrast to the treatment that we as women have received for the past four years,&#8221; she said, referencing the policies and attitudes of the Biden administration. &#8220;I’m overwhelmed with excitement, I&#8217;m overwhelmed with gratitude.”
Gaines added that the &#8220;win&#8221; was important, but called on the Senate to take up a bill dedicated to protecting female sports that has already been passed in the House.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Riley_Gaines_</a> reacts outside the White House to Donald Trump’s EO banning men from women’s sports: “What we saw today is in total contrast to the treatment that we as women have received for the past four years…I’m overwhelmed with gratitude.” <a href="https://t.co/f858BpDUAE">pic.twitter.com/f858BpDUAE</a>
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) <a href="https://twitter.com/MaryMargOlohan/status/1887264303163519124?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 5, 2025</a></blockquote>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ncaa-backs-down-changes-transgender-athlete-policy-after-trump-order?topStoryPosition=undefined" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NCAA Backs Down, Changes Transgender Athlete Policy After Trump Order</a>

‘Cheated, Betrayed, And Violated’: Riley Gaines Reflects On Journey To Protect Girls Sports

WASHINGTON—Hours before President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-order-protecting-womens-sports-will-reportedly-extend-to-colleges" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> an Executive Order keeping men out of women&#8217;s sports, congressional Republicans huddled in the basement of the U.S. Capitol with the woman who started it all.
Riley Gaines, the former University of Kentucky swimmer whose 2022 loss to trans-identifying male swimmer Lia Thomas helped <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/04/04/swimmer-who-tied-lia-thomas-taken-aback-in-trophy-handling/">ignite</a> the battle to keep men out of women&#8217;s sports, is no stranger to the Republican Study Committee. Several committee members, including then-RSC Chairman Jim Banks (IN) and Rep. Kat Cammack (FL) were among Gaines&#8217;s earliest and strongest allies. And the 180-member caucus has been a leading voice on transgender issues ever since.
So, when Gaines addressed the RSC on Wednesday, it felt in many ways like a homecoming. Members elbowed past each other to snap photos with Gaines and were eager to share their stories of how they voted for bills she&#8217;s endorsed, or told their grandchildren about her fight. Gaines was a big enough draw that even Rep. Elise Stefanik (NY) Trump&#8217;s nominee for United Nations Ambassador, took time to attend.
Surrounded by supporters and with Trump&#8217;s Executive Order mere hours from being signed, it would have been easy — and understandable — for Gaines to take a victory lap.
She didn&#8217;t.
&#8220;This war on woke has not been won,&#8221; Gaines told the committee members. &#8220;In the next four years, God forbid AOC runs and wins, this executive order could be overturned just as easily as it was implemented,&#8221; she said, encouraging Senate leadership to prioritize codifying the protections for women&#8217;s sports.
RSC Chairman August Pfluger (R-TX) echoed Gaines&#8217;s warning, telling The Daily Wire that while Trump&#8217;s order is certainly a &#8220;decisive blow against gender ideology,&#8221; it&#8217;s hardly the end of the road.
“The woke left has waged a relentless war on women&#8217;s sports, threatening decades of hard-fought progress,&#8221; Pfluger said. &#8220;We will not rest until we have permanently codified these protections.&#8221;
Also present at Wednesday&#8217;s event was Florida Rep. Greg Steube, who this week introduced a bill that would bar men from competing against women in the Olympics. Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who introduced a companion to Steube&#8217;s bill, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-tuberville-moves-to-protect-womens-olympic-sports-from-trans-identifying-males">told</a> The Daily Wire that he was &#8220;proud&#8221; to do his part to defend women&#8217;s sports.
“Men should not be competing in women’s sports at any level,” Tuberville said. “We were all deeply disturbed last summer to see videos of men boxing against women in the Olympics. This is not only dangerous but it is incredibly unfair to the young women who have trained their whole lives to compete.”
On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Daily Wire that Trump expects the International Olympic Committee to enforce his executive order during the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
&#8220;I think the President with the signing of his pen starts a very public pressure campaign on these organizations to do the right thing for women and for girls across the country,&#8221; Leavitt said during Wednesday&#8217;s press briefing, adding that &#8220;there have been many notable female athletes who have had the courage to speak out against some very powerful institutions in this country.&#8221;
The President is bringing their voice to the highest level at the White House this afternoon, and he expects these organizations to comply with this federal executive order that he&#8217;ll be signing today.”
Trump&#8217;s order, like Tuberville and Pfluger&#8217;s bills, takes aim not just at the Olympics but the NCAA as well. Gaines on Wednesday recalled how the collegiate athletics governing body &#8220;muzzled&#8221; her and her fellow female athletes who spoke up in defense of women&#8217;s sports.
&#8220;I could spend hours talking about the effective ways — and I use the word effective because it worked — that our universities and institutions and the NCAA kept us quiet,&#8221; Gaines said, adding that these organizations &#8220;emotionally blackmailed&#8221; her and other athletes by telling them they would lose friends, hurt their careers, and be labeled a &#8220;transphobe.&#8221;
While she&#8217;s certainly not giving up her fight, Gaines made it clear on Wednesday that her goal remains the same as it ever was.
&#8220;What I have been fighting for for years is not anti-anyone, it&#8217;s not anti-anything, it&#8217;s not anti-any group of people.&#8221;
I&#8217;m standing for women,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It&#8217;s really that simple.&#8221;

Riley Gaines and House Republicans Speak Following Vote On The Protection Of Women And Girls In Sports Act

As Trump Vows To Protect Women’s Sports, Riley Gaines Urges Lawmakers To Keep Up The Fight

Congressional Republicans Host Riley Gaines, Vow To Codify Trump's Women’s Sports Protections

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