DeSantis declares Florida native Emma Weyant NCAA champ in 500 free over Lia Thomas

Fox News correspondent Charles Watson describes the controversy surrounding the transgender athlete on 'Fox Report Weekend.'

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an official proclamation on Tuesday recognizing Emma Weyant, a Florida native and Virginia swimmer, the winner of the 500-yard freestyle at the NCAA Championships last week and not University of Pennsylvania transgender swimmer Lia Thomas.

Last week, Thomas made history when she won the 500 free becoming the first openly transgender swimmer national champion. Weyant, a freshman Cavaliers swimmer who was born in Sarasota, finished a full second behind Thomas in the race. Thomas finished the event with a time of 4:33.24 and Weyant finished with a time of 4:34.99.

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in a November 2018 file photo.  (REUTERS/Carlo Allegri)

DeSantis criticized the NCAA’s transgender participation policy, which allowed Thomas to race.

"By allowing men to compete in women's sports, the NCAA is destroying opportunities for women, making a mockery of its championships, and perpetuating a fraud," the Republican governor tweeted.

"In Florida, we reject these lies and recognize Sarasota's Emma Weyant as the best women's swimmer in the 500y freestyle."

The tweet was accompanied by the proclamation in which DeSantis cites the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, which he signed in June 2021 and "specifies that an athletic team or sport that is designated for females, women, or girls may not be open to student of the male sex, based on the student’s biological sex listed on the student’s official birth certificate at the time of birth. …"

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Lia Thomas