Former Education Sec. Betsy DeVos is punching back at comments by U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe saying that biological men should be able to compete on the women's national team.
After recently announcing her plans to retire, Rapinoe told Time Magazine this week that she would welcome transgender women onto the national team.
'I see trans women as real women,' the controversial soccer star said ahead of the upcoming Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
'It' s not understandable in any way by me, I don't understand how a woman athlete could say it's right and fair for a biological male to compete,' DeVos fired back during an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com.
She said that she doesn't see how the case could be made to add a male to the women's team.
'I see trans women as real women,' the controversial soccer star Rapinoe said this week
'There's a lot of advantages, physical advantages that a male has. And just because it might make your team better, doesn't make it right,' DeVos continued.
'The logic here just doesn't play out long term.'
Rapinoe is an outspoken LBGTQ+ advocate who helped the U.S. women's players obtain a new labor deal with the United States Soccer Federation that effectively pays female athletes the same as their male counterparts.
But now, with 22 states banning transgender students from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity, Rapinoe has turned her focus that struggle.
'It's particularly frustrating when women's sports is weaponized,' she continued. 'Oh, now we care about fairness? Now we care about women's sports? That's total bulls***. And show me all the trans people who are nefariously taking advantage of being trans in sports. It's just not happening.'
DeVos, who was a competitive swimmer herself, disagrees with the soccer star's assessment, saying male and female sports should be separate based on basic biological differences.
She also addressed the rising issue of biological males using female locker rooms.
'It makes no sense at all,' she told DailyMail.com, saying that young female athletes are already expending a lot of time and energy to pursue their passion and perfect their sport.
And these hardworking female athletes shouldn't have to 'be worried about encountering a male' in their locker room and then competing against him in the swim meet or on the field on top of it all, said DeVos.
'It makes no sense at all,' DeVos told DailyMail.com during an exclusive interview
Lia Thomas (center) at the NCAA championships
She acknowledged that it is a sensitive topic, especially for individuals for whom this is really an issue.
'But I'm sure there are ways to find to ensure that [transgender athletes] have an opportunity to have competition as well. It doesn't need to be on a women's team.'
Last month, swimming star Kylee Alons said she was forced to change in a storage cupboard to avoid undressing in front of biological male trans swimmer Lia Thomas.
Alons, a champion swimmer in the state, allegedly revealed the uncomfortable ordeal at the 2022 NCAA Championships during a meeting with Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla.
'Today I met with Kylee, the most decorated swimmer in NC State history,' Steube tweeted.
'She told me how she changed in a storage closet at the NCAA finals rather than experience the sexual harassment that comes with undressing in front of Will ‘Lia’ Thomas – a biological male who insisted on being in the female locker room.'
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