Donald Trump taunts Imane Khelif by calling Olympic boxer ‘he’ and claims she’s transgender after winning gold
Donald Trump has ridiculed Olympic boxer Imane Khelif after the controversial Algerian boxer won gold in Paris on Friday after being questioned about her gender during the Games.
Khelif defeated China’s Yang Liu in the women’s welterweight final, capping the best series of her boxing career with a victory at Roland Garros.
But just hours later, in Montana, Khelif was the target of a verbal confrontation with Trump as he addressed a crowd at a rally in Bozeman.
“Who wants men to compete in women’s sports? I want to congratulate the young woman who went from being a man to being a woman. He… She won gold,” Trump said.
His comments were false: Khelif is not transgender and was born female, but it was claimed she has male XY chromosomes after undergoing testing through the IBA last year. Since then, authorities have largely refused to answer questions about how the process works.
Donald Trump targeted Imane Khelif during his final rally in Bozeman, Montana on Friday
Khelif defeated China’s Yang Liu in the final of the women’s welterweight division for Olympic gold
Trump continued: “What about the woman, the beautiful woman, from Italy? She went there and had no idea what was going on. She’s a very good boxer — but only against other women.”
He was referring to Angela Carini, who last week gave up her fight with Khelif after 46 seconds after being punched in the nose. She was in tears and said she had never been hit so hard.
Trump reenacted the blow and then said, “He did this. She immediately said, ‘Wow, nobody’s ever hit me that hard.’
“Then he does it again and she immediately gives up.”
At a press conference after winning gold on Friday — and before Trump’s comments — Khelif said: “For eight years this was my dream and now I’m an Olympic champion and a gold medalist.
“That also gives my success a special touch because of those attacks. We are at the Olympic Games to perform as athletes, and I hope that we will not see similar attacks at the Olympic Games in the future.
“I am fully qualified to participate in this competition. I am a woman like any other woman. I was born as a woman, I live as a woman and I am qualified.”
Khelif said she has been competing in IBA competitions since 2018, but that now they “hate me, and I don’t know why.”
“I sent them only one message with this gold medal, and that is that my dignity and honor come before everything,” she said.