‘That is a Fraud’ – DeSantis Re: Trans Swimmer William ‘Lia’ Thomas

Breitbart: Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis took a swipe at male athletes who claim to be transgender “women” by slamming them as “frauds” on Friday.

Speaking at Liberty University, DeSantis took specific aim at transgender University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas. Though he did not use the swimmer’s name, there was no doubt about who DeSantis meant to reference.

“It is wrong to have a swimmer compete for three years on the men’s swim team, switch to the women’s team, and then win the women’s national championship.” DeSantis told his audience, Fox News reported. “That is a fraud. That is wrong.”

Governor DeSantis: “It is wrong to have a swimmer compete for three years on the men’s swim team [and] switch to the women’s team, then win the women’s national championship. That is a fraud.”

Who agrees with him? pic.twitter.com/dVwmPeD8s3

— Proud Elephant 🇺🇸🦅 (@ProudElephantUS) April 14, 2023

The comments perfectly line up with the sudden championship swimming year experienced by Thomas. Born as William Thomas, the athlete was an entirely mediocre swimmer on the UPenn men’s swimming team for three years. But after taking a year off to
“transition” to a female, Thomas rejoined the UPenn swimming program on the women’s team and was suddenly the school’s top woman swimmer. Thomas won the 2022 500 freestyle national championship after a season of multiple top times in the sport.

DeSantis’ comments came only days after top college swimming champion Riley Gaines was physically attacked by fascist, left-wing students at San Francisco State University.

Piers Morgan and Bill Maher say Riley Gaines is standing up for female athletes worldwide, Lia Thomas has no place in women's swimming, and it's wrong to allow transgender athletes to decimate women's sports records:

Rep. Katie Porter: "[Riley Gaines] is doing this for likes and… pic.twitter.com/DPcIG3W2Or

— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) April 16, 2023

Gaines lost a placing in the NCAA finals last year when she tied with Lia Thomas at the championships. Since then, she has become an outspoken opponent of men competing as transgender women in sports.

DeSantis has put his pen where his mouth is, too. He signed a bill into law back in 2021 that would protect women’s sports from the encroachment of men claiming to be women and said Florida intended to protect “women against discrimination.”