Internet feasts on Trump’s impression of transgender weightlifter
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailGet our free Inside Washington emailThe internet is reacting after President Donald Trump did an impression of a transgender athlete participating in a weightlifting competition.The impression came during Trump’s remarks at the House GOP’s annual retreat on Tuesday. The White House’s “Rapid Response 47” account shared a clip of the impression on X, captioning it: “@POTUS on his imitation of ‘trans athletes’ in women's sports: ‘My wife HATES when I do this.’” The post included three laughing while crying emojis. At the event, Trump said that his wife, first lady Melania Trump, dislikes his dancing and weightlifting impression.“She actually said, ‘Could you imagine FDR dancing?’” Trump said, referring to former president Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was paralyzed below the waist.Trump later said the first lady thinks “the weightlifting is terrible,” before launching into his routine. The president first pretended to be a woman lifting weights, grunting and gesturing as he did so.open image in galleryPresident Donald Trump mocked a transgender athlete participating in weightlifting at a House GOP event (AFP via Getty Images)“Drops the thing, walks off the stage crying. Her mother’s crying, her father’s crying,” Trump said as he finished the impression.The president then began to imitate another athlete who could easily lift the weights.“Guy gets up. He said, ‘Have you lifted before?’ ‘A little bit.’ And he walks up, ‘bing.’ He could’ve gone ‘ding, ding,’” Trump said, as he mimed lifting weights with little effort.The internet was quick to react with some users criticizing the president’s rhetoric.“Trump is giving a speech at a Republican event in Washington,” one user wrote on X. “He’s mimicking women weightlifting & talking about transitioning women boxing. Hasn’t he something more important to do or talk about?”“What bizarre dimension have we slipped into? This is so embarrassing,” another user wrote. But others praised the president’s remarks. Riley Gaines, a former collegiate swimmer who has advocated against transgender athletes competing in women’s sports, re-shared the clip of Trump’s impression on X. open image in galleryOne user called Trump’s impression of a transgender athlete ‘embarrassing’ (AFP via Getty Images)“Trump's imitation of a trans weightlifter. No, I don't regret my vote. This is perfect,” Gaines wrote.Trump also claimed Tuesday that “two transitioned people” won gold medals in boxing. According to CNN’s Fact Check, he was likely referring to Olympic gold medalists Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting, who were both identified as female at birth and competed as women.This isn’t the first time Trump has mocked transgender weightlifters. In May, he did a similar impression while speaking at the University of Alabama. “Then a guy comes along, or a gal, or whatever. A transitioned person comes along, and he was a failed weightlifter as a man, but he comes along, 206 pounds...and he breaks the record,” Trump said at the time.Over the last year, the Trump administration has sought to roll back the rights of transgender and intersex people in the federal government.The Trump administration has moved to ban transgender people from the military, a policy that the Supreme Court ruled could be enforced as legal challenges play out. The administration has also sought to block citizens from choosing a sex marker on their passports that aligns with their gender identity.GLAAD, an LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, reports that attacks on transgender Americans are on the rise.Between May 1, 2024, and May 1, 2025, the organization tracked 932 anti-LGBTQ incidents in the U.S., 52 percent of which targeted transgender and gender non-conforming people. Compared to the year prior, attacks against transgender people were up 14 percent, the organization said.
