speech, Trump made several promises offering so-called “red meat” to Republican base voters on various hot-button issues, promising to undo some of President Joe Biden’s executive orders, ban critical race theory in schools and workplaces, pardon those accused of taking part in the Capitol riot, and build a border wall and deport undocumented immigrants, all while ranting about how he was cheated out of a second term due to alleged — yet unproven — electoral fraud.
But there was a significant cheer from those in attendance after Trump promised to “ban men from participating in women’s sports,” adding that the concept was “[s]o ridiculous.”Without mentioning her by name, Trump referenced University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas and her recent successes in the pool, deliberately misgendering her and at times exaggerating how well she has been performing.
For example, Trump did not mention that Thomas recently lost a few shorter-distance events in a dual meet against Yale and Dartmouth.