Sage Steele angered by Karine Jean-Pierre's stance on trans athletes: 'This is ridiculous'

Former ESPN anchor Sage Steele said Thursday that the White House is not giving "honest answers" about transgender athletes and women's sports, calling out a "ridiculous" comment this week by press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

Steele was asked on "America's Newsroom" about Jean-Pierre stating that "there is no yes or no answer" to the question of fairness in transgender athletes going up against females.

Steele responded by calling the argument "ridiculous." 

"The more I hear it, the more angry I get because it's not complicated. All these people who've been preaching science for the last three-plus years with COVID are all of a sudden ignoring science for something that is so basic," she told Dana Perino. 

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Pushing her on the subject by reminding Jean-Pierre of the president's granddaughters, FOX Business' Hillary Vaughn asked if Biden cares whether "girls are allowed to compete in sports without fear of injury" or whether he believes it's "fair for girls to have to compete against biological males."

Refusing to comment on whether Biden believes the issue is about fairness for biological females, Jean-Pierre put emphasis on the fact that the administration aims to "prevent discrimination" against transgender kids.

"I just answered the question. It is a complicated issue. It is truly a complicated issue with a wide range of views, a wide range of views. There is no yes or no answer to this. It is complicated. There's a rule that the Department of Education has put forward, and we're going to let that process move forward," Jean-Pierre said. "Again, we want to make sure that while we establish guardrails with this rule that we also prevent discrimination as well against transgender kids. But again, a complicated issue with a wide range of views, and we respect that."

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre hosts a press briefing.

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Steele said she believes that a vast majority of Americans on both sides of the political aisle find this ridiculous as well. 

"We know the differences between boys and girls, men and women. And I'm disappointed in a lot of people, a lot of companies, etc., that were preaching, you know, women and supporting women's sports. … And how about all the Title IX work for all these years? Then all of a sudden we're just forgetting it and ignoring it? And most importantly, people who agree with us that are silent. Why? Because it's easier, it's safer," said Steele, a longtime "SportsCenter" anchor who has since left ESPN after being sidelined over her criticism of vaccine mandates.

Steele warned, "if we don't do this, then we've wasted 50 years of work and trying to uplift women, and I don't get it. This is pathetic that it's still an issue. And shame on these people in leadership positions for not being willing to give an honest answer." 

In April, the Biden administration proposed new Title IX regulations on transgender people in schools. 

Under the department’s proposed rule, no school or college that receives federal funding would be allowed to impose a "one-size-fits-all" policy that categorically bans transgender students from playing on sports teams consistent with their gender identity. Such policies would be considered a violation of Title IX.

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