Trump “campaigned on this, they promised this, and they delivered only within six months. They got Penn to already come crawling back, apologizing.”
Paula Scanlan had to swim against male athlete William “Lia” Thomas at the University of Pennsylvania in 2021. Now that same university has reversed course under the Trump administration and Scanlan is taking a well-earned victory lap.
Speaking to Jack Posobiec on Human Events Daily, Scanlan praised President Donald Trump, a UPenn grad, for taking decisive action to restore titles and records to women who lost them to the male swimmer who convinced college athletic authorities to back up his lies.
“I’m so excited for the announcement from Secretary McMahon and President Trump,” Scanlan said, “as they stand at the forefront of this issue for women and girls everywhere. And I am so thankful that we finally have an administration in office who is willing to stand up and ensure that no other girl has to experience the pain and heartbreak I went through.”
Scanlan has been an outspoken advocate for women since her time in the pool with Thomas and has been a staunch advocate for Trump as he works to undo the damage wrought against women by the previous administration.
“I’m just very excited,” Scanlan went on, “that the Trump administration is taking action to protect girls. We’re fighting for the next generation, young girls like my daughter.”
She noted that Trump “campaigned on this, they promised this, and they delivered only within six months. They got Penn to already come crawling back, apologizing. This is a historic win and I’m so grateful for them and their leadership.”
Thomas broke onto the collegiate women’s swim scene as an over 6′ tall man who had already been swimming in men’s competition before deciding he was a woman and jumping into the women’s pool—and locker room. Female swimmers were silenced by the University of Pennsylvania and prevented from speaking out over fear of losing their position on the team or of being insulted, belittled, demeaned, and bullied for saying the truth that Thomas was not a woman.
The Biden administration rewrote Title IX of the Civil Rights Act to say that the legal protections for women on the basis of biological sex were also protections for gender identity, thereby erasing women in the law meant to protect them. Thomas wasn’t the only male to take advantage of this bizarre reframing of reality, but he was impossible to miss as he broke records, stole titles, and prevented women from accessing athletic opportunities simply through his very presence. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, he was also in the girls’ locker rooms watching them get undressed.
Trump has reversed all that, taking aim at schools that buck reality and allow boys and men to compete against women and use women’s facilities. UPenn has complied, under threat of a severe depletion of federal funding, and will no longer allow men to play women’s sports.
Watch the whole episode here: