As I reported Tuesday, former President Donald Trump gave a speech in Washington, D.C., focused on law and order, having a tough-on-crime approach for safer streets, and transgender people participating in women’s sports.

The former President spoke about the University of Pennsylvania’s transgender athlete Lia Thomas. Thomas, who was on UPenn’s swim team, is a biological male. In March, Thomas won the NCAA Women’s Championship in the 500-yard freestyle after beating out the female competitors.

As part of that, Trump called on LeBron James to identify as a woman and dominate in women’s basketball.

"I'd be the greatest women's basketball coach in history. I don't like LeBron James, I like Michael Jordan much better. But, I'd go up to LeBron James…I'd say, 'LeBron, did you ever have any desire to be a woman? Because what I'd love you to do is star on my team." pic.twitter.com/xU5lt6hPeH

— CSPAN (@cspan) July 26, 2022

Here’s the full quote of what Trump said:

“I’d be the greatest women’s basketball coach in history. I don’t like LeBron James, I like Michael Jordan much better. But, I’d go up to LeBron James … I’d say, ‘LeBron, did you ever have any desire to be a woman? Because what I’d love you to do is star on my team.”

Trump also spoke about a female athlete who worked hard to win her weightlifting contest, but a biological male won instead. Trump said:

“But that’s a lot, 218 pounds, and she got over that weight, and she was going to break it … her mother and father are screaming, you got it! … she couldn’t do it, and then, this guy comes along, who is named Alice, and he looks at the weight … world record! World record! We could’ve put another couple of hundred pounds on; I think he would have lifted it.”

It’s ridiculous that those women put in the work all offseason to have a chance at winning the championship in their sport, all for it to be ruined due to a biological man competing with them.

As biological men dominate in women’s sports, it’s important for leaders who claim to care about women and their rights to speak up about this issue. If they want to compete in sports, they should join the men’s league or create a league of their own instead of taking the easy route and diminishing all the work put in by the women. One positive note here: Eighteen states, including Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina, have banned biological men from competing in women’s sports.

For those who support biological males competing in women’s sports, the question they should answer is – if their daughter(s) competes in any sport, whether it’s weightlifting or swimming, would they want a biological man competing with them? Everyone can form and is entitled to their own opinion; that’s the beauty of the United States and the First Amendment, but if their answer is no, why would they want to impose that on other women in sports?