Donald Trump claimed that he’s going to allow two men – Enes Kanter Freedom and Dennis Rodman – to play women’s basketball. While Kanter Freedom is one of two male basketball players who have been claiming that they will try out for the WNBA to protest the women’s basketball league for allowing transgender women to play, it’s not clear why Trump mentioned Rodman as well. He may have confused him with another basketball player making similar claims to Kanter Freedom.
Trump spoke yesterday at a rally at the Choctaw Event Center in Durant, Oklahoma, where he attacked transgender people’s rights multiple times in an effort to get the crowd to cheer.
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“The choice in this election is very simple. You can vote for the radical left Democrat Communists who loot your wealth, raise your taxes by four trillion dollars, annihilate your borders, shut down Oklahoma Oil and Gas,” Trump said at one point in the rally, “mutilate your children, your transgender children.”
“Have men playing in women’s sports?” Trump said. “Where’s Freedom? I saw him, man, he’s the largest human being I’ve ever- Where the hell is Freedom? Stand up, please. Look at this guy.”
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“I mean, in all fairness, this guy is a monster,” Trump continued. “He dreams of playing against women. He wants…”
“In fact, he’s willing to say that he’s a woman in order to play against women, and I don’t think he really believes that, but that’s OK; these are minor details.”
“The radical left wants men playing in women’s sports. This guy is a monster. He dreams of playing against women. In fact, he’s willing to say that he’s a woman in order to play against women, and I don’t think he really believes that, but that’s OK. These are minor details.”
Trump then turned to Rodman to find him, saying that he doesn’t “feel large at all” and “felt very small” standing next to Rodman before his speech.
“So Dennis, you’re a little bit older now, but you’re in great shape,” Trump continued. “You think you’d be able to make it in women’s basketball?”
“I don’t know, Dennis, I’m very worried about you,” he said, laughing, possibly at the idea that women could even compete against a man in a sport.
Trump went on to talk about spending, but then came back to Rodman, extolling his achievements and saying he’s giving Rodman and Kanter Freedom a “pardon” to play in the WNBA.
“I’m giving them a full pardon that they can go into women’s sports anytime they want,” Trump said. “And I guarantee you when they do, they will break- even though they’re slightly older, although Freedom looks like he’s pretty young. They will break every record in the history of women’s sports.”
While both Kanter Freedom and Rodman are MAGA former NBA players, only one has claimed he should be allowed to play women’s basketball. Kanter Freedom, in August, said that he will try to get on a WNBA team next year as a way of mocking the league’s policy on transgender players, which is that trans women, like all women, can play. No transgender women currently play in the WNBA.
Shortly after Kanter Freedom’s announcement, former NBA player Royce White also declared himself eligible for the WNBA draft.
“I’m transgender. I’m a woman. I identify as sometimes identifying as a woman for purpose of basketball, professional basketball, so I’ll be declaring for the WNBA draft in 2027 as well,” White said at the time.
Rodman did not make a similar statement. Trump may have confused Rodman for White, or he may have used Rodman as an example because he was at the rally.
Contrary to Trump’s claim at the rally, there is no Democratic elected official who support men playing in women’s sports teams or boys playing in girls’ school sports. WNBA player Cameron Brink caleld Kanter Freedom “a stupid piece of s**t” for his antics.
“When it comes to the trans issues… I think it’s a non-issue, and I think it’s people trying to just come for the trans community, and I just don’t stand for that,” Brink said in August.
“I think what – I don’t even know what the f**k his name is – Enes Kanter, he’s a stupid piece of sh*t, and I think he’s just trying to stay relevant,” Brink added. “Taking something that’s a non-issue right now and just trying to use it for clickbait, for views, for likes, and then targeting a vulnerable community is just really low.”
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