Karoline Leavitt: It's 'Alarming' To See Some SCOTUS Justices Struggle With Basic Biology
As the Supreme Court weighs major women's sports cases, the press secretary says the White House expects a ruling in favor of sex-based protections.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says the Trump administration is expecting a victory in the two Supreme Court cases that could determine whether states are allowed to protect sex-based rights in girls' and women's sports.
And the White House is prepared to act if that happens.
Leavitt addressed the issue during Thursday's White House press briefing after being questioned by OutKick's Riley Gaines, who was invited to participate in the rotating "new media seat." Gaines pointed out that 23 states currently don't have laws protecting sex-based rights in sports. She asked whether the administration would take action against those states if the Court rules in favor of the laws.
"Absolutely," Leavitt said. "The administration already has done so. We've taken action on a number of fronts against these states who are failing to uphold the President's executive orders in this administration's policy of simply protecting women in women's sports and in women's private spaces. We've gone to the mat with large universities in this country as well to try to fight for what's fair and what's just for women and girls across the country."
Riley Gaines @ White House Press Briefing
As OutKick has previously reported, the administration has already launched joint investigations through the Department of Education and the Department of Justice into states and institutions that have refused to comply with President Trump's "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" executive order. That includes states like Minnesota, California, Oregon and Washington, where officials have continued to allow males to compete in female sports despite federal guidance.
Leavitt said she also took a personal interest in the Supreme Court hearings.
"I listened to them myself as a woman and as a former athlete," she said. "And I think the President speaks on common sense on this issue, that women's sports and private spaces should be protected and that there are two genders. There are two sexes. That is not something we should be afraid to say in this country."
Karoline Leavitt says the White House expects the Supreme Court to uphold sex-based protections in sports.
(Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
She went on to criticize what she described as a reluctance by some members of the Court to acknowledge basic biological differences.
"I think, frankly, it was quite alarming to not only hear a couple of justices grapple over that basic, fundamental biological fact that men and women are different, but inherently equal," Leavitt said. "But we are certainly different, and women deserve such rights.
"We hope and expect that the Supreme Court will rule in the right way on this matter," she said.
The Court is not expected to issue rulings in either case until later this year.