Senator Josh Hawley unimpressed with Charlie Baker’s Senate testimony answers on trans athletes

Former NCAA star Riley Gaines talks to Senator Josh Hawley about NCAA president Charlie Baker’s Senate testimony.

Former Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines and United States Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) were not impressed with NCAA President Charlie Baker’s answers to questions related to transgender athletes in women’s sports during his testimony before a Senate committee.

Baker, who replaced former NCAA President Mark Emmert in March, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the future of college sports, specifically as it relates to name, image and likeness (NIL).

Sen. Josh Hawley, left, questioned NCAA President Charlie Baker on Tuesday. (Senate Judiciary)

He faced repeated questions about the participation of transgender athletes in women’s sports. Examples of Gaines’ experience in the locker room during the 2022 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships were used as a reference. 

Sen. Hawley asked Baker about female swimmers having to share a locker room with transgender swimmer Lia Thomas during the championship and whether it was still NCAA policy. 

RILEY GAINES RIPS NCAA PRESIDENT CHARLIE BAKER'S SENATE TESTIMONY AS 'ENTIRELY DISINGENUOUS'

"He hemmed, and he hawed," Hawley said to Gaines on the "Gaines for Girls" podcast. "He first tried to blame his predecessor."

"So then I tried to nail him down and say, ‘What’s your policy now?’ That was my question," Hawley continued. "Are you still forcing women to accept biological men in their locker room without their consent? And then he said ‘Well, we probably wouldn’t do it that way again.'"

Baker distanced himself from his predecessor’s policies related to transgender athletes competing in women’s sports on Tuesday. 

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