President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday, February 5, banning transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports—a move that quickly ignited controversy. Meanwhile, sports network ESPN found itself at the center of social media outrage after its attempt to report on the order backfired.
Surrounded by female athletes, including former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines, Trump framed the “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order as a measure to protect female competitors. The order grants federal agencies the authority to enforce Title IX under a strict interpretation of “sex” as the gender assigned at birth.
Trump defended the decision, arguing that transgender women have unfairly dominated female sports. “Female athletes have been forced onto the front lines, and men claiming to be girls have stolen more than 3,500 victories,” he stated, according to Whiskey Riff.
He added, “That’s a lot, and [they have] invaded more than 11,000 competitions designed for women. Last year, a male cyclist posing as a woman competed in the 800-mile Arizona Trail race, a very big deal in cycling, and obliterated the women’s course record by nearly 5.5 hours. Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it, huh? 5.5 hours.”
However, as news of the executive order spread, ESPN found itself at the receiving end of online backlash over its reporting. The network posted on X (formerly Twitter): “President Donald Trump will sign an executive order Wednesday designed to prevent people who were biologically assigned male at birth from participating in women’s or girls’ sporting events.”
The phrase “biologically assigned male at birth” drew immediate mockery, with critics accusing ESPN of using “woke” terminology to avoid stating that transgender women are biologically male. Social media users were quick to lash out.
“Didn’t ESPN get the memo? The days of woke gender identity politics are OVER,” one user wrote. “There’s no such thing as ‘people who were biologically assigned male at birth.’ They are men. And allowing them to compete against women is wrong.”
Another user mocked the network, saying, “Honestly, why the tortured language to describe being born male or female? You’re supposed to do sports, ESPN. Go do sports.” Some also praised Trump’s executive action while condemning ESPN’s reporting.
“Yes, preventing men from competing against women. This isn’t that difficult to understand, ESPN,” one person wrote. “It never should have gotten to this point where a presidential EO was required to restore some common sense to sports.”
Another outraged user added, “ESPN is disgusting for this headline. ‘Biologically assigned male at birth’—you mean born a man? Trans people should have all the rights they deserve, but playing sports against women ain’t one of them. PROTECT WOMEN’S SPORTS!!!!”
As the debate rages on, ESPN has yet to respond to the backlash. Meanwhile, Trump’s executive order is expected to face legal challenges, as advocacy groups argue it discriminates against transgender athletes and violates their rights under federal law.