Jen Psaki’s recent attempt to downplay the controversy over men competing in women’s sports is a masterclass in gaslighting. On her MSNBC show, Psaki brushed aside concerns about fairness and safety, claiming it’s not a “real issue” while admitting that it does happen. So, which is it, Jen? Either it’s not happening, or it’s happening, but we’re supposed to ignore it. You can’t have it both ways.
Let’s start with her assertion that this is a manufactured “crisis.” Psaki claimed that Republicans spent “hundreds of millions” on ads highlighting transgender issues, portraying it as a major problem in schools. She dismissed this as fringe fearmongering, insisting that the number of transgender athletes is so small it’s hardly worth discussing. But here’s the thing: it doesn’t take thousands of cases for this to be an issue. Even one biological male dominating in women’s sports raises legitimate concerns about fairness, safety, and the integrity of competition.
“What I worry about is that in the course of all that soul searching, some Democrats might reach the wrong sweeping conclusions,” she stated. “And there are a lot of issues that fall into that bucket, but one in particular that stuck out to me is transgender rights.”
Republicans spent hundreds of millions of dollars on anti-trans ads this election cycle, including one that showed Vice President Harris talking about government funding for gender-reaffirming care for prisoners and detainees,” she continued. “If that sounds like a particularly obscure issue, it is, because it applies to a tiny group of people.”
Psaki then ventured into even murkier waters by claiming there’s “no evidence” that men playing in women’s sports threaten safety or fairness. Really? Let’s talk about the Connecticut track stars who shattered records and stole scholarship opportunities from female athletes. Or the high school volleyball player hospitalized after a spike from a biological male competing on the girls’ team. These aren’t hypotheticals; they’re real examples of what happens when ideology trumps biology.
“Now these ads created this perception that the issues of trans kids playing sports was dominating schools across the country, which is completely false,” she said.
“Look, reflection is good, but if that were actually an issue at thousands of schools across the country, it would be worthy of a debate,” she stated. “But there are just incredibly few examples of transgender girls playing in youth sports. And when we see those examples, there isn’t evidence that these kids are a threat to safety or fairness.”
The irony here is that Psaki dismissed this as an “obscure” issue while simultaneously defending the Democrats’ push to normalize it. If it’s so rare and inconsequential, why are activists so intent on redefining women’s sports and ignoring the voices of female athletes who are directly impacted? The answer is simple: they don’t want a debate because they know they’ll lose on the merits.
Psaki’s final flourish was a thinly veiled directive to Democrats: double down on this agenda, regardless of public backlash. This, despite polling showing that the majority of Americans—including many Democrats—oppose men competing in women’s sports. It’s a tone-deaf approach but par for the course in a party that increasingly prioritizes fringe issues over kitchen-table concerns.
Jen Psaki says Democrats must double down on pushing the transgender agenda on Americans, including allowing men to play against girls in sports
She says it’s not an issue and that men playing against girls in sports presents “no threat to safety or fairness.” pic.twitter.com/iIoujvv1Fm
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) November 18, 2024
The reality is that fairness and safety in sports are not niche worries. They’re common-sense values that most Americans support. Pretending otherwise doesn’t make the problem go away—it just makes Psaki’s denial all the more glaring.
