GOP candidates stand with women defeated by Lia Thomas, condemning 'the death of women's sports'

The ‘Outnumbered’ panel discuss Lia Thomas’ victory and the future of women’s sports.

Republican candidates running for Congress in battleground districts expressed sympathy for Reka Gyorgy, the Virginia Tech swimmer who spoke out after she missed out on competing in the NCAA Championships due to transgender swimmer Lia Thomas' inclusion, and condemned the NCAA rule allowing male-to-female transgender swimmers like Thomas to compete against women.

"Reka Gyorgy has every right to be upset," James Rodgers, a former high school football coach and a GOP candidate for Texas' 30th Congressional District, told Fox News Digital. "What happened to her is outrageously unfair, and I truly feel for her. The rules intended to protect women in sports are now failing to do so, and athletes like Reka are feeling the consequences of this."

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Rodgers also claimed that Emma Weyant, the former Olympic medalist whom Thomas defeated in the 500-yard freestyle event last week, should have won the race.

Texas Republican House candidate James Rodgers

"I would also like to praise Emma Weyant, whose years of work and sacrifice should have reached their peak as the women’s 500 freestyle champion," the Republican said. "Instead, her tremendous athletic achievements were overshadowed and will ultimately be forgotten, sacrificed on the altar of tolerance by individuals who have made a mockery of Title IX."

"Tolerance and empathy should not and do not have to come by forcing women back into second-class status and second place finishes," Rodgers concluded.

Pennsylvania's Lia Thomas waits for a preliminary heat in the Women's NCAA 500 meter