Trump says his political consultants don't want him going after trans athletes — then does so — during his Washington speech
- Donald Trump marveled Tuesday at the response to an inflammatory remark he made about trans people.
- He said in his speech that consultants had told him to keep clear of the "controversial" topic.
Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday said his political consultants had advised him to veer away from criticizing transgender athletes.
About 45 minutes into his speech at the America First Agenda Summit in Washington, DC, Trump remarked: "By the way, we should not allow men to play in women's sports."
The comment received raucous applause, which led the former president to pause his speech for close to 20 seconds to take in the audience's reaction with a smile.
"So crazy. It just shows you what all of these political geniuses— I have all of these consultants, all these great, great — 'Sir, don't say that, it's very controversial,'" he said.
He then said his comment hadn't been "written down anywhere."
"I just said it, thought it might be a good time," Trump quipped, adding that the comment had earned him the "biggest hand" of the evening.
Trump then launched into a lengthy tirade about trans athletes. While not calling them out by name, he appeared to reference the experiences of the University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas and the Olympic weightlifter Laurel Hubbard.
Thomas, for one, has been a lightning rod for criticism from the right. Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and former Vice President Mike Pence are among the many conservative voices who have refused to recognize the trans swimmer's win at an NCAA swimming tournament in March.
During his Tuesday speech, Trump also mocked trans weightlifters when he pretended to struggle to lift weights while onstage.
Trans athletes are allowed to compete in the Olympics. After the 2022 Beijing Games, the International Olympic Committee adopted a nonbinding framework encouraging Olympic sports to include trans athletes in competitions.
In the US, however, trans girls and women have been facing bans from female sports teams in more than a dozen states, per The New York Times, including Texas, Arizona, and Oklahoma.
The National Center for Transgender Equality tracked what it described as "anti-transgender and anti-LGBTQ actions" by the Trump administration through July 2020. This included rolling back regulations meant to protect trans people from healthcare discrimination and restricting trans people's access to homeless shelters.