Former Fox News and NBC host Megyn Kelly is getting a lot of flack for calling WNBA star Caitlin Clark a "coward."
Clark, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, said that she believes transgender athletes in women's sports is an issue that should ultimately be left up to the leagues and governing bodies. Clark's comments came in response to Sophie Cunningham's comments to ESPN, in which she said that it's "common sense" to keep transgender athletes out of women's sports.
Kelly, meanwhile, is not happy with Clark. She called her a "coward" online.
Kelly has been ripped by many on social media, including Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy.
"Absolute moron/idiot to call Caitlin a coward for this answer. 1st of all you don’t even know how she feels on this issue and more importantly she doesn’t owe it to you or anybody else to be your political talking point. She just wants to play ball. Total coward cheap shot to call her a coward for not being your puppet," Portnoy wrote.
Kelly has been accused of being extremely hypocritical, given that she's often criticized athletes for voicing left-leaning political opinions, like Colin Kaepernick. But then, when an athlete doesn't speak out on a political issue they agree with, it's a problem.
"You told Colin Kaepernick to shut up and focus on football in 2022. Why is there a different standard with Caitlin Clark?" one fan wrote.
Kelly, though, is defending herself
Kelly fired back at her critics online.
"Why don’t you sit this one out since you didn’t even have any idea today 'how big a problem' this is. (Hint: UCLA Law estimates over 120k trans athletes at the HS level.) Understand this however: if it were your daughter suffering brain damage from a boy posing as a girl, you wouldn’t care how many others there were. One is too many. But watch my show today bc I actually answered your Q civilly and respectfully, unlike your behavior here," she wrote.
Ultimately, though, critics of Kelly aren't saying she's right or wrong with her opinion of transgender athletes. They're saying it's unfair of her to rip Caitlin Clark for not wanting to share a political opinion.
It's OK for Clark, or anyone else, to want to stick to basketball.
