WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump threatened to withhold national backing if California did not halt a transgender miss successful precocious schoolhouse from competing successful authorities way and tract finals, and said helium would sermon it with Governor Gavin Newsom connected Tuesday.
Trump, successful a societal media post, appeared to beryllium referring to AB Hernandez, 16, who has qualified to vie successful the agelong jump, precocious leap and triple leap title tally by the California Interscholastic Federation astatine a precocious schoolhouse successful Clovis, California, this weekend.
The CIF is the governing assemblage for California precocious schoolhouse sports, and its bylaws authorities that each students “should person the accidental to enactment successful CIF activities successful a mode that is accordant with their sex identity.” California instrumentality prohibits discrimination, including astatine schools, based connected sex identity.
Trump, a Republican, referred successful his societal media station connected Tuesday to California’s politician arsenic a “Radical Left Democrat” and said: “THIS IS NOT FAIR, AND TOTALLY DEMEANING TO WOMEN AND GIRLS.”
He said helium was ordering section authorities not to let the trans jock to vie successful the finals.
Under the U.S. and California constitutions, authorities and section officials and individuals are not taxable to orders of the president, who tin mostly lone contented orders to agencies and members of the national government’s enforcement branch.
Trump threatened that “large standard Federal Funding volition beryllium held back, possibly permanently,” if his demands are not met. Such a determination would astir surely pb to a ineligible situation by California, which has already sued implicit aggregate Trump actions it says are amerciable oregon unconstitutional.
Trump besides referred to comments Newsom made connected his podcast successful March erstwhile the politician besides said helium believed contention involving transgender girls was “deeply unfair.”
A spokesperson for Newsom declined to remark connected Trump’s remarks, but referred to comments Newsom made successful April erstwhile helium said overturning California’s 12-year-old instrumentality allowing trans athletes to enactment successful sports was not a priority.
“You’re talking astir a precise tiny fig of people,” Newsom told reporters. Out of the 5.8 cardinal students successful California’s nationalist schoolhouse system, determination are estimated to beryllium less than 10 progressive trans pupil athletes, according to the governor’s office.
A CIF spokesperson did not respond to questions, and Hernandez could not beryllium instantly reached for comment.
Some section schoolhouse officials and parents person sought to forestall Hernandez from competing; others person spoken successful enactment of Hernandez and condemned what they accidental is bullying of a teenager.
In an interrogation with Capital & Main, Hernandez dismissed claims she has an unfair biologic vantage successful sports, noting that portion she had placed archetypal successful a triple leap lawsuit this month, she came successful eighth successful the precocious leap and 3rd successful the agelong jump.
“All I thought was, I don’t deliberation you recognize that this puts your idiotic claims to trash,” Hernandez said of her mixed showing.