The Damage Report highlights Media Matters study finding stark increase in Fox News' coverage of trans athletes
John Iadarola: “If it was actually true that these athletes were dominating,” that doesn't mean banning them is “moral or just in any way”
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From the May 4 edition of The Young Turks' The Damage Report
JOHN IADAROLA (HOST): [Fox News] named nine particular trans women athletes, one of whom is not allowed to compete, none of whom dominate their field. Their argument from the very beginning has been women's sports, which we care so much about, just doesn't work anymore because these trans athletes have destroyed it and so we need to ban them. They have not cited one single instance of that. I would argue that even if they were capable of doing that, that doesn't justify anything like a ban at all, obviously. But they haven't even tried. They just talk about it -- 126 discussions.
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IADAROLA: And so Media Matters is focusing here obviously on Fox's coverage of it. But Fox's coverage of it has an effect. So, so many state legislatures have already passed legislation just this year about this. They did that because it was talked about on Fox News. And if -- even if their argument, if they actually tried to support it, and if it was actually true that these athletes were dominating it, again, that doesn't actually prove that their solutions are moral or just in any way. But they're not even trying to do that, ignoring that -- like people don't just do high school sports, as [Wosny Lambre] was saying, to win trophies. They're growing up. They're trying to find acceptance. They're trying to figure out who they are. But I'm making the mistake of treating them as people. So they're obviously not going to understand that.