Over the past several weeks, Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham has been at the center of a massive nationwide conversation about whether or not transgender women and girls belong in women’s sports after she took a stand against transgender women in sports. Now, that argument has even reached the Trump family.
As the debate continues, Lara Trump, the wife of Donald Trump’s son, Eric, has spoken out in support of Cunningham, calling her “kind of a hero” to a lot of people.
Last month, Cunningham caused quite a stir when she decided to speak out against transgender athletes.
During an interview for an ESPN profile, Cunningham was asked about her political beliefs, including the “MAGA Barbie” nickname that she has been given after assumptions about her political leanings. In response, the Indiana Fever guard shared her opinion on transgender athletes competing in women’s sports.
“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,'” she told ESPN. “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.”
When asked about her comments, Cunningham doubled down on that stance, describing her opinion as “common sense.”
“I said what I said. I think it’s kind of common sense,” Cunningham said last month. “And I think I’ll always believe in that. I think it’s really important to protect children, and that’s little girls who are also involved in that category. I stand on what I said.”
Cunningham later addressed the issue again in a post on X while responding to a recent incident involving two teenage girls who said they were verbally confronted by a Seattle Storm co-owner, who was later suspended.
“I truly believe there is a safe space and love for EVERYBODY. Biological girls, biological boys, trans women, and trans men. Everyone is welcome at my table! You can disagree and still be kind,” Cunningham wrote in a post on X. “Bravo to those girls for standing up for what they believe. You’ll be hearing from me soon yay for gifts. Truly embarrassing of the co-owner.”
Cunningham has since indicated that she has no plans to back away from the criticism surrounding her comments, but she did express a desire to focus on basketball.
Cunningham’s stand has led to a lot of reactions from all across the United States and the globe, and that even included Lara Trump, who praised Cunningham not only for her comments, but also for her role as a teammate to Caitlin Clark.
“Sophie Cunningham, basketball player for the Indiana Fever. Of course, she is a teammate of Caitlin Clark, and she has been backing her teammate, Caitlin, when people have been bullying Caitlin, when the refs haven’t been calling things accurately. Why? Because I think a lot of these women in the WNBA have been a little jealous of the attention Caitlin has garnered, Lara Trump said on her podcast, The Right View With Lara Trump.
“You might want to, guys, just kinda jump on board and support that. Because now, all of a sudden, people are showing up at women’s basketball games. People are interested in the Indiana Fever. Thank you, Caitlin, for that,” Lara added.
Lara Trump went on to describe Cunningham as a sort of “hero” to many people.
“So Sophie started with that, and then she basically came out and said, ‘Yeah, I don’t think men should be competing with women in the sports arena.’ And for that, people started freaking out,” Lara Trump said. “She became, for a lot of people, this sort of hero. But this is where we’ve kind of landed in our current world: that this sort of thing is so outrageous now, to come out and speak common sense, that it’s garnered this much attention.”
While United States President Donald Trump has not yet weighed in on the matter personally, the White House has said that Trump “feels strongly” about the issue. Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance has said that Cunningham has helped “save” America with her courage.
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