White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt expressed the Trump administration’s solidarity Thursday with Sophie Cunningham, a Christian WNBA star who’s been under fire for opposing men in women’s sports.
During a press briefing at the White House, Leavitt said she doesn’t believe President Donald Trump has yet reached out to Cunningham, but is following the story of the 29-year-old Indiana Fever guard as she has fielded left-wing attacks and been mocked as “MAGA Barbie” for supporting the integrity of women’s sports.
Cunningham, an eight-season WNBA veteran who was re-baptized earlier this year to reaffirm her Christian faith as an adult, made headlines in 2022 when she approvingly retweeted an X post by CBS host Josh Prate opposing trans-identified male swimmer Lia (Will) Thomas being allowed on the women’s team.
During an interview with ESPN published earlier this week, Cunningham asserted that she doesn’t hate transgender-identifying people, but believes in standing up for young girls in their private spaces.
“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,'” she told the outlet. “I think that I am here to extend love. But I also think with that love is truth, being honest. And I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.” She also pushed back against the “MAGA Barbie” moniker, noting she is “very much in the middle” of the political spectrum.
When asked later about her remarks to ESPN this week, Cunningham remained adamant, saying, “I said what I said. I think it’s kind of common sense.”
Sophie Cunningham addresses her recent comments to ESPN about wanting to protect women’s sports.
“I said what I said, I think it’s kinda common sense.”
Leavitt used Cunningham’s story as a springboard to reiterate the Trump administration’s support for shielding women from competing against men, noting that such a position is overwhelmingly shared by the American public.
“As you know, this is something the president feels strongly about as well, and the American people do too: that men should not be playing in women’s sports,” said Leavitt.
“It’s completely ludicrous that anyone could support that. It’s even more ludicrous that you do have Sophie Cunningham, a female athlete herself, very accomplished in her own right, coming forth and speaking that truth, that men shouldn’t play in women’s sports.”
Leavitt went on to push back against those on the political left who continue to push for ignoring biology when it comes to competitive sports.
“We want to protect women and girls, and the backlash [Cunningham] is receiving from Democrats and left-wing figures across the country is astonishing. They are clearly very out of touch with the American public on this issue, which, again, is an 80/20 issue.”
“It’s common sense. It’s rooted in basic biological fact that men should not be competing against women on playing fields across the country,” she added.
Cunningham said during an appearance on a podcast last year that being an outspoken Christian in the WNBA hasn’t come without challenges, and that some want to silence her.
“It’s different,” she said. “I’ve learned that my competition isn’t with anyone else, like, God gave me all these gifts and blessings to show all these young boys and girls and sometimes my parents and older people too, like, it’s OK to be like this, but you got to learn how to channel it a little bit.”
Cunningham said there are more Christians in the league than many realize, but that some of them prefer to keep their faith private.
“There’s a lot more believers than you would actually expect, because a lot of people don’t speak out about it. I think our league, they want to have a certain look to them, they want to have a certain style to them, and if you speak out against it, sometimes they want to hush you, but that’s not what I’m here for,” she said.
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