Pablo Torre and Rachel Maddow would like you to believe the controversy surrounding biological males competing in women's sports is a manufactured political issue.
asserted
controversy → like → sports
Never mind the female athletes who have lost championships, podium finishes and opportunities to biological males.
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who → mind → males
We're supposed to forget all of that ever happened.
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all → suppose → that
During an appearance on "Pablo Torre Finds Out," Maddow accused Republicans of inventing a problem that has "literally no contact with the real lives of 99.9999% of Americans."
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that → find → Americans
Torre, meanwhile, offered what he apparently considered a compelling piece of evidence.
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he → offer → evidence
"We called the NCAA and we said, 'Hey, how many trans athletes are competing in women's sports, or at all?'
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athletes → call → sports
And the NCAA told us there are effectively zero.
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NCAA → tell → us
They can't find them."
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They → find → them
Except you forgot to mention there's a reason for that.
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you → forgot → that
Biological males are no longer permitted to compete in NCAA women's sports
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males → permit → sports
On Feb. 5, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports," directing federal agencies to enforce sex-based athletic protections under Title IX.
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Trump → sign → IX
The very next day, the NCAA announced an immediate change to its transgender-athlete participation policy, restricting women's competition to "student-athletes assigned female at birth.
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NCAA → announce → birth
"
The NCAA didn't even pretend the timing was a coincidence.
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timing → pretend → ?
"President Trump's order provides a clear, national standard," NCAA President Charlie Baker said in the Feb. 6 announcement.
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Baker → provide → announcement
In other words, the rule was changed to address the very issue Torre and Maddow now suggest was never a real problem in the first place.
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Torre → change → place
And before that policy change, we have plenty of examples.
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we → have → examples
Of course, there’s Lia Thomas — the University of Pennsylvania swimmer who previously competed on the men's team went on to win the 2022 NCAA Division I women's 500-yard freestyle national championship, beating Olympic silver medalist Emma Weyant.
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who → ’ → Weyant
Or CeCe Telfer, who previously competed in men's track at Franklin Pierce University before winning the 2019 NCAA Division II women's 400-meter hurdles national championship.
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who → compete → championship
Then there's Sadie Schreiner, who won the 2024 Liberty League women's 200- and 400-meter outdoor titles while competing for Rochester Institute of Technology, setting a conference record in the latter event.
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who → be → event
And OutKick has reported extensively on Blaire Fleming, the San Jose State volleyball player whose participation became the center of a national controversy in 2024.
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participation → report → 2024
Fleming earned All-Mountain West honorable mention honors that season, while multiple opposing teams forfeited matches rather than compete against the Spartans.
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teams → earn → Spartans
Those are just a handful of the documented examples.
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Those → document → examples
And they all happened before the NCAA changed its rules.
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NCAA → happen → rules
You can debate whether those previous policies were fair or unfair if you want to.
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you → debate → ?
But pretending the controversy sprang from absolutely nothing requires ignoring years of actual, recorded events.
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controversy → pretend → events
And using today's participation numbers without acknowledging that the eligibility rules have changed?
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rules → use → numbers
Torre wanted to deliver a "gotcha" by calling the NCAA and reporting that it couldn't identify transgender athletes currently competing.
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it → want → athletes
But if you're going to use the apparent absence of something as proof that it was never a problem, you should probably mention the rule that now prohibits it.
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that → go → it
OutKick reached out to Torre for comment but did not receive a response.
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OutKick → reach → response
The Aporia
