USA Fencing’s board director Damien Lehfeldt had a contentious hearing with members of the Republican Party over whether men should be allowed to compete in women’s fencing.
Lehfeldt, who has a detailed history of making derogatory remarks online about President Trump and those who believe sports should be separated by sex, faced a grilling alongside Fatima Goss Graves, CEO of the National Women’s Law Center.
Congressman Brandon Gill (R-Texas) pointed to troubling online posts from the executive, who largely admitted to making crass remarks.
Gill presented a social media post where Lehfeldt responded to a parent who didn’t want their daughter “being beaten up by men in sports.”
Lehfeldt allegedly wrote, “I’m not gonna pull her from the sport and write a whiny email announcing my departure.”
The board director did not deny he wrote the response and agreed it was “an inappropriate message” that he regretted posting.
Gill then asked about a post from parents who “don’t want their daughters competing against men in sports” and how Lehfeldt allegedly compared those parents to the “Ku Klux Klan.”
In response to the post, Lehfeldt reportedly wrote, “The only wizard that’s going to dig you out of the myopic hole you put yourself, and your family in, is one of the grand-wizard variety,” which is a reference to a rank in the KKK.
Lehfeldt said he apologized for that remark and called it “inappropriate” and pledged to “never making a message like that again.”
Lehfeldt then admitted that another response to the post was “not real.”
On his Facebook page, Lehfeldt was also exposed by Gill for writing, “Imagine being one of 71 million people dumb enough to vote re-election for a treasonous clown who is permanently banned from Twitter for inciting an insurrection, you mad MAGA bros.”
The executive stated that this was not in his professional capacity and acknowledged that Trump had won re-election, to which Gill replied that it was written on a page called “The Fencing Coach.”
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) took her turn hammering Lehfeldt with yes or no questions, including, “Do you think forcing a woman to change in front of a man, in a locker room, is abusive — yes or no?”
Before Lehfeldt answered, Greene continued, “Do you want your daughter to change in front of biological men in locker rooms?”
The director then replied, “My daughter isn’t really something that should be part of this hearing, respectfully.”
Lehfeldt’s social media activity was proved to be very questionable during the hearing. However, Representative Greene did show a photo of Lehfeldt that had been cropped to make it seem as if he was holding up the middle finger; he was actually giving a piece sign.
Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images
In another instance on Instagram, Lehfeldt responded to a question from a user that asked, “Are you okay with cis females being at a disadvantage?”
Lehfeldt responded to the question simply by saying, “Yeah.”
Lehfeldt told the committee he exercised poor judgment in that instance and should not have said it.
Representative James Comer (R-Ky.) was another House member who offered up simple questions to the panel of guests, which also consisted of Stephanie Turner, a female fencer who refused to compete against a man, and Payton McNabb, a former female volleyball player who suffered brain damage at the hands of a male athlete in her league.
“Do you believe biological men should compete in women’s sports?” Comer asked the panel.
McNabb and Turner both quickly replied “no,” but Mr. Lehfeldt was not as reasonable.
“If they comply with the requirements, sir,” Lehfeldt replied. He then clarified that he did not mean by federal policy regarding men in women’s sports, but by the “policy of USA Fencing.”
Graves said she agreed with Lehfeldt and believed that “trans women” should be able to compete in fencing in accordance with their “gender identity.”
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Read the full article here
