The most effective ad of Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign focused on radical gender ideology, and he has wasted on time addressing the social issue in the first weeks of his second term.
One of the president’s first executive orders on Inauguration Day banned the use of the term ‘gender’ from federal documents and recognized two sexes, male and female. He then issued an action to end ‘gender affirming care’ for minors, including surgeries and hormonal treatments. Now, he is tackling the issue of biological men competing in women’s sports.
On Wednesday’s show, Megyn was joined by the hosts of The Fifth Column – Kmele Foster, Michael Moynihan, and Matt Welch – to discuss the latest executive order and where the country stands on the issue.
The Executive Order
February 5 is National Girls & Women in Sports Day and the Trump administration honored the occasion – which, since 1987, has celebrated female athletes and those committed to providing equal access to sports – with the signing of the “No Men in Women’s Sports” executive order.
The president signed the action into law during a White House ceremony Wednesday afternoon that was attended by trailblazing athletes-turned-activists like Riley Gaines and Payton McNabb. “The war on women’s sports is over,” Trump said. “Women’s sports will be only for women.”
At a press briefing earlier in the day, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the executive order “[keeps] men out of women’s sports to defend the safety of athletes, protect competitive integrity, and uphold the promise of Title IX.” She also called on lawmakers to pass the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) lobbied for on The Megyn Kelly Show on Monday.
White House officials who spoke to the media ahead of the signing said the order seeks to protect female athletes in two ways. First, it will end the Biden administration’s changes to Title IX requiring schools that receive federal funding to allow transgender students to access sports teams and locker rooms in accordance with their gender identity, not biological sex. The order will bar male students from participating in girls’ and women’s sports and using women’s restrooms.
Additionally, the Trump administration will work with sports governing bodies – including the International Olympic Committee ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles – to ensure the guidance is followed in noneducational settings as well.
The Reaction
As Megyn noted, public opinion is overwhelmingly on the side of protecting women’s sports. A May 2023 Gallup survey of U.S. adults found that nearly 70 percent of respondents said trans athletes should only compete on teams that correspond with their biological sex.
Welch said the public opinion and the executive powers afforded under Title IX make this a no-brainer. “It is an 80/20 issue,” he said. “So, I think it is going to take place, it is not going to be challenged… legally – there is not going to be a leg to stand on – and people are going to take the [loss].”
While organizations like the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) are already signaling they will comply with federal law, the country’s largest LGBTQ advocacy group, Human Rights Campaign (HRC), is pushing back. “We all want sports to be fair, students to be safe, and young people to have the opportunity to participate alongside their peers,” HRC President Kelley Robinson said in a statement. “But an attempted blanket ban deprives kids of those things.”
Moynihan said the vocal minority in the media and activist class will ensure this issue remains at the forefront for years to come. “The reason I don’t think it is going to go away and disappear… is because it’s an 80/20 issue in the media in the other direction,” he said. “There is a reason that everyone was shocked that these are issues that the voters were like, ‘No, we’re not on the same page.'”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with The Fifth Column by tuning in to episode 1,000 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.