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Join on Telegram Rabat – At yesterday’s campaign rally in Bozeman, Montana, Republican presidential nominee and former president Donald Trump made headlines with his controversial remarks on Algerian boxer Imane Khelif’s gold medal victory at the Olympics.
Khelif secured the gold medal in women’s boxing at the 2024 Paris Olympics with a victory over China’s world champion Yang Liu.
Speaking to the crowd, Trump initially offered a satirical congratulation to Khelif, a boxer who has faced considerable controversy and scrutiny regarding her biological sex.
“I’d like to congratulate the young woman who transitioned from a man to a boxer,” Trump said. “You saw, he won, she won the gold medal,” he added ironically.
Trump’s statement quickly drew attention due to its controversial language and apparent insensitivity.
“How about the young Italian, beautiful Italian boxer, she got in there and didn’t know what was going on, and she’s a very good boxer against other women,” Trump stated.
He spoke of Khelif’s strong jab overwhelming the Italian boxer Angela Carini, implying that the jab had the force of a man rather than a woman’s.
Read Also: Imane Khelif’s Gold Medal is a Testament to the Power of Women and Girls
Despite her remarkable achievements, Imane Khelif’s participation in the Paris 2024 Olympics has been marred by controversy surrounding her gender.
This issue gained traction following Khelif’s swift victory over Italy’s Angela Carini in a welterweight match.
Carini later expressed her concerns to the BBC: “It could have been the match of a lifetime, but I had to preserve my life as well.” The match ignited a wave of unfounded claims on social media, with some alleging that Khelif was “born a man.”
The online uproar intensified when US presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance contributed to the controversy, with Trump declaring on Truth Social, “I will keep men out of women’s sports!”
In response to the bullying, a social media campaign emerged to support Khelif and refute the false claims about her gender.
Her father, Omar Khelif, defended her in an interview with BFMTV. “My child is a girl. She was raised as a girl,” he said. “She’s a strong girl. I raised her to be hardworking and brave.”
