Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham has been in the news recently after speaking out against transgender athletes.
Her comments came during a feature with ESPN, in which she was asked about her political views. Cunningham was asked about the “MAGA Barbie” nickname she has been given by some fans, which she called a “projection.”
"I'm very much in the middle," Cunningham said in the article. "I agree with things on both sides, disagree with things on both sides. And that's all I've ever said about my political beliefs. But people love to assume."
The guard also addressed her stance on transgender athletes because, as she noted in the piece, she is in that world and “feels qualified to speak to that world.”
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"I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I'm like, 'I never once said that,'" Cunningham said. "I think that I am here to extend love. But I also think with that love is truth, being honest. And I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn't have to go against biological men."
According to The Athletic, Cunningham was asked about her ESPN comments before Indiana’s game against the Connecticut Sun on Wednesday.
“I said what I said. I think it’s kind of common sense,” she told reporters.
The Indiana Fever released a statement to The Athletic, saying in part that its players are “thoughtful adults with their own perspectives and voices, and those views are their own.”
“We are committed to welcoming fans from every background and treating everyone with respect, and that’s what guides us as an organization,” The Fever added.
On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about Cunningham and her comments.
Leavitt said President Trump has not reached out to Cunningham, but that he has been following the story and that it is “something the president feels strongly about.”
The Trump administration has previously threatened to sue the state of Minnesota over policies allowing transgender athletes to participate in girls’ sports.
RELATED STORY | Trump administration sues Minnesota over transgender athlete policy in school sports
Last year, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.” The order aimed to prohibit people assigned male at birth from participating in female sports categories.
More recently, the Supreme Court ruled that states can ban transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports.
