Republican Utah Sen. Mitt Romney lent his support behind Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul’s view on allowing transgender students to participate in girls’ sports.
The rare meeting of the minds between the moderate Romney and the libertarian-leaning Paul occurred Wednesday during the remote confirmation hearing for Miguel Cardona, President Joe Biden’s pick for secretary of education.
“I want to associate myself with a number of the things that were said by Senator Paul,” Romney told Cardona. “That’s not something I say very frequently, but he made a very, very good point. I’ve got pictures of my eight granddaughters, amongst some grandsons, behind me. They shouldn’t be competing with people who are physiologically in an entirely different category.”
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Sen. Mitt Romney: “I’ve got pictures of my 8 granddaughters, amongst some grandsons, behind me. They shouldn’t be competing with people who are physiologically in an entirely different category.” pic.twitter.com/h5HbKHQyCn
— Forbes (@Forbes) February 3, 2021
Romney made the comments after a lengthy exchange between Paul and the Department of Education nominee on whether he would enforce an Office of Civil Rights opinion that Connecticut allow male-born transgender athletes who identify as female to participate in female sports.
“I think that it’s critically important that education systems and educators respect the rights of all students, including students who are transgender, and that they are afforded the opportunities that every other student has to participate in extracurricular activities,” Cardona told Paul.
While discussing the physical differences between male and female-born athletes, Paul called the concept “bizarre” and “not very fair.”
“Do you think it’s fair to have boys running in the girls’ track meet?” he asked.
“I think it’s the legal responsibility of schools to provide opportunities for students to participate in activities and this includes students who are transgender,” Cardona responded. (RELATED: #BidenErasedWomen Trends After Biden Executive Order Sets The Stage For Rolling Out Trans Protections)
“You’re going to run the Department of Education,” Paul said later. “You’ve got no problem with it. That concerns me. And I think it’s this kind of thing is going to lead to really just the vast majority of America just wondering ‘Who are these people that think it’s OK? What planet are you from to think it’s OK that boys would compete with girls in a track meet and that that somehow would be fair?'”