Robert F Kennedy Jr. says he opposes biological men competing in women’s sports

Robert F Kennedy Jr. said during an appearance on CNN on Saturday that he opposes transgender women participating in girls’ and women’s sports.

Kennedy, 69, cited the hard work women have had to put in over the past 30 years to develop their field as he explained his point of view.

“I am against people participating in women’s sports who are biologically male,” the Democratic presidential candidate said. “I think women have worked too hard over the past 30 years to develop women’s sport. I’ve seen it happen and I don’t think that’s fair.’

The issue of biological men in sports has come to the fore in recent years amid the controversy surrounding NCAA swimmer Lia Thomas, who was born male but competed as a female — and other transgender athletes who compete in women’s sports.

Earlier this week, Lia Thomas accused her former teammates of supporting her transition, but not her ability to compete as a woman.

In 2020, the human rights organization Robert F Kennedy, which is headed by Kennedy’s sister Kerry, demanded that Harry Potter author JK Rowling return an award she received from the group in 2019 for her work with the children’s charity Lumos of the writer’s views on transgender . issues.

Rowling said receiving the honor was “one of the highest honors I have ever received… Robert Kennedy epitomized everything I most admire in a human being.”

Kerry Kennedy said in a statement that she found Rowling’s comments about the trans community “deeply disturbing.”

This week, Kerry Kennedy issued a statement distancing her organization from her brother’s presidential bid.

“I love my brother Bobby, but I do not share or endorse his views on many issues, including the COVID pandemic, vaccinations, and the role of social media platforms in checking false information. It is also important to note that Bobby’s views do not reflect or affect the mission or work of our organization,” she said.

Lia Thomas was pictured last year with her former competitor, Riley Gaines, at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships

Thomas, who last year became the first transgender athlete to win a first-division NCAA national championship, called out her fellow University of Pennsylvania swimmers for “half-support” hiding behind the idea of ​​feminism to “make transphobic push beliefs’.

She made the accusation on the “Dear Schuyler” podcast, hosted by Schuyler Bailar, the first openly transgender NCAA swimmer.

The former collegiate swimmer, who swam on Penn’s men’s team but joined the women’s team after her transition, said she believes that instead of being barred from sports, trans women should be “celebrated” for their achievements.

Thomas went on to say that critics of transgender athletes in sports “check the female body,” comparing the drive to exclude transgender female athletes from sports to historic efforts to exclude black women from participating in women’s sports.

“They’re using the guise of feminism to push transphobic beliefs,” she said.

Currently, twenty-one states have banned transgender women from participating in girls’ and women’s sports, and Kennedy Jr. wants to see that number grow even further.

Last week, the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act passed the House by a vote of 219 to 203. The law is specifically designed to prevent biological males from participating as transgender athletes in female sports in schools across the country.

The bill has been opposed by Democrats, who have accused Republicans of “bullying” transgender students by calling for the bill.

The issue was split along party lines, with all “yes” votes for the bill coming from Republicans, while all “no” votes coming from Democrats.

President Biden has also stated that he would veto the bill if it landed on his desk.

In the Senate, similar legislation was blocked by a Democrat, which sought to prevent biological men from competing as transgender athletes on girls’ and women’s sports teams in schools and colleges.

Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville, who previously served as head football coach at the University of Mississippi and Auburn University, pointed out the importance of Title IX in giving girls and women opportunities in sports.

ABC News edited anti-vaxx comments from Democratic presidential nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from an interview that aired Thursday night

On Friday, ABC News accused Kennedy Jr. of editing anti-vax comments. from an interview that aired Thursday night.

Kennedy officially launched his highly anticipated presidential bid from Boston last week, running against Democratic President Joe Biden.

For more than a decade, Kennedy has become one of the country’s most prominent anti-vaxxers — erroneously linking jabs to autism.

“We should note that during our conversation, Kennedy made false claims about the COVID-19 vaccines,” anchor Linsey Davis said when the interview aired. “We used editorial judgment by not including extensive parts of that exchange in our interview.”

“Data shows that the COVID-19 vaccine has prevented millions of hospitalizations and deaths from the disease,” Davis continued. “He also made misleading claims about the relationship between vaccination and autism.”

The anchor then pointed to the research showing that vaccines and the ingredients in vaccines are not the cause of childhood autism, citing multiple studies involving more than a million pediatric patients and endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics and Autism Speaks.

Despite Kennedy’s controversial views, a The Fox News Channel poll was released Wednesday showed that the Democratic hopefuls earned 19 percent of the Democratic primary.

Another 9 percent said they would vote for self-help guru Marianne Williamson, who also ran for the Democratic nomination in 2020.

Biden — who made his re-election official on Tuesday — received 62 percent of the Democratic primary voters, the poll found.

The Democratic National Committee is not expected to sponsor primary debates against Biden, which is typical when an incumbent is in power in the White House.

Kennedy is not the first member of his family to challenge a sitting president.

The late Senator Ted Kennedy ran against President Jimmy Carter for the Democratic nomination in 1980.

Carter was plagued by low approval ratings and a sluggish economy.

Biden’s approval rating, according to the Real Clear Politics poll average, stands at 42.9 percent.

Robert F Kennedy Jr. speaking at an event where he announced his candidacy for president at the Park Plaza Hotel in Boston on Wednesday, April 19, 2023

Robert Kennedy Jr. and his wife Cheryl Hines wave at an event last week to announce Kennedy’s candidacy for the 2024 US presidential election