USA Today sports columnist Nancy Armour smeared ESPN broadcaster Sam Ponder for daring to defend the integrity of women’s sports in the face of transgender radicals.
In a Twitter post last week, Ponder came out in support of swimmer and activist Riley Gaines, who had shared several messages she had received from young girls in California that now have to compete with men in their beloved sport.
“I barely said anything publicly abt this issue & I’ve had so many ppl msg me, stop me in the street to say thank you+ tell me stories abt girls who are afraid to speak up for fear of lost employment/being called hateful. It is not hateful to demand fairness in sports for girls,” wrote Ponder.
I barely said anything publicly abt this issue & I’ve had so many ppl msg me, stop me in the street to say thank you+ tell me stories abt girls who are afraid to speak up for fear of lost employment/being called hateful. It is not hateful to demand fairness in sports for girls https://t.co/teNoMDWNW4
— Samantha Steele Ponder (@samponder) May 25, 2023
As Breitbart News reported, Ponder also voiced support for Riley Gaines in April after she scolded transgender swimmer Lia Thomas for celebrating the Biden administration’s proposed change to Title IX that will effectively ban schools K-8 from protecting women’s sports from transgender athletes.
“This would take away so many opportunities for biological women and girls in sports,” Ponder tweeted. “It is a shame that we are needing to fight for the integrity of Title IX in 2023 and the reason it was needed in the first place. #savewomensports.”
This would take away so many opportunities for biological women and girls in sports. It is a shame that we are needing to fight for the integrity of Title IX in 2023 and the reason it was needed in the first place. #savewomensports https://t.co/5Ufeha2emq
— Samantha Steele Ponder (@samponder) April 19, 2023
Ponder’s words echoed that of fellow ESPN broadcaster Sage Steele, who has also voiced her opposition to transgenders in women’s sports.
Are there any other women with public platforms willing to stand up for @Riley_Gaines_ & the millions of female athletes?? Or do we only stand up for those who fit certain narratives??
LADIES, WHERE ARE YOU?
Media…Hollywood…hello?!?! We MUST come together on this!! https://t.co/lxONhYkm3L— Sage Steele (@sagesteele) April 7, 2023
On Sunday, USA Today sports columnist Nancy Armour scolded Ponder for supporting women’s sports, accusing her of “plain old bigotry.”
“Don’t be fooled by the people who screech about ‘fairness’ to cloak their bigotry toward transgender girls and women, the transgender girls and women who have the audacity to want to play sports, in particular,” Armour wrote.
“This is, and always was, about hate, fear and ignorance,” she added.
Armour then basically played a straw-man game by claiming that Ponder should have talked about the lack of equitable funding for women’s sports if she actually cared about the subject.
“Did Ponder use her platform to express outrage at any of this? Urge her nearly half-million followers on Twitter to write or call their representatives and ask that women be given the funding and opportunities they rightfully deserve? Did she publicly participate in any of the many excellent documentaries, videos and commentary ESPN did to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Title IX last year? Or even Tweet about them?” Armor wrote.
“No, she did not. Her public concern about ‘fairness’ for female athletes starts and stops with the miniscule number of transgender women who are participating in sports,” she asserted.
Armour then said that Ponder had put transgender people in danger by “further amplifying the bogeyman that cisgender women’s participation in sports is being threatened by transgender girls and young women.”
Paul Roland Bois joined Breitbart News in 2021. He also directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed on Tubi, Google Play, YouTube Movies, or Vimeo on Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.