Trump White House sends message to Minnesota after trans softball pitcher leads team to state championship

OutKick contributor Riley Gaines joins 'Fox & Friends First' to discuss how the transgender athlete debate has sparked backlash in states like Minnesota and California as critics fight to protect women's sports. 

EXCLUSIVE: A transgender softball pitcher in Minnesota sent shock waves throughout the nation after leading Champlin Park High School to a state championship on Friday. 

The trans athlete's participation in the girls' softball season was in defiance of President Donald Trump's "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" executive order, and is the focus of a lawsuit filed by three anonymous female players. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Champlin Park celebrates winning the state championship while Bloomington Jefferson watches. (Amber Harding)

The White House responded to news of the trans athlete's championship in an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital. 

"President Trump is protecting women in sports and restoring common sense. Those who choose to violate federal law will be held accountable," White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said in response to an inquiry on the situation in Minnesota.

Minnesota is currently under a federal investigation for potential Title IX violations for refusing to comply with Trump's executive order. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a lawsuit against Trump's administration in April in an effort to protect its current gender eligibility policies. 

The state also failed to pass a bill that would have barred biological males from girls' and women's sports in early March after Democrats in the state's legislature voted against it. 

HOW TRANSGENDERISM IN SPORTS SHIFTED THE 2024 ELECTION AND IGNITED A NATIONAL COUNTERCULTURE

Marissa Rothenberger