Has Trump responded to transgender student athlete's wins at CIF state track meet?
A Jurupa Valley High School transgender athlete swept into a national and political firestorm earned first and second place in several events at the California Interscholastic Federation State Track and Field Championships late May.
AB Hernandez placed first in the girls high jump and girls triple jump and second in the girls long jump at the state championships held in Clovis May 30 and May 31.
National attention has been fixed on the Southern California student athlete after President Donald Trump warned he'd cut federal funding to California if the state continued to allow transgender women and girls to compete in women's sports days before the state championships. While Trump's post did not name Hernandez, news reports quickly linked the president's comments to the Jurupa Unified high schooler.
Hernandez shared the podium with her cisgender competitors, USA TODAY reported. It comes after the California Interscholastic Federation announced rule changes that allowed 'biological female' student athletes to receive the medal for the podium placement they would have earned had a transgender female athlete not competed.
Hernandez also was part of a three-way tie for first in the high jump after all three competitors cleared the same height.
The awards ceremonies after the events did not produce any protests or disruptions – according to New York Times reporting from the meet in Clovis – as some had feared if Hernandez won a state title.
Trump has not shared anything on Truth Social, X or Facebook regarding Hernandez's placements at the state championships as of the morning of Sunday, June 1.
The president previously said in a Truth Social post on May 27 that 'large-scale federal funding will be held back, maybe permanently' if the executive order he signed in February isn't followed. Called 'Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports,' the executive order targets transgender women and girls participating in women's sports.
Trump also said in that Truth Social post on May 27 that he was 'ordering local authorities, if necessary, to not allow' the athlete, presumed to be AB Hernandez, to compete in a state finals event.
The Jurupa Valley High School student's accomplishments come days after the Department of Justice announced that it was opening an investigation to determine whether state officials, the California Interscholastic Federation and Jurupa Unified School District are 'engaging in a pattern or practice of discrimination on the basis of sex.'
The Department of Justice said it is investigating whether Title IX, a federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in educational programs, is being violated by California's AB 1266, which requires that students be allowed to participate in sex-segregated school programs like sports teams and competitions consistent with their gender identity, regardless of their gender listed on their records.
Legal notice about the Department of Justice's Title IX-investigation was sent to California Attorney General Rob Bonta, California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, Jurupa Unified School District and the California Interscholastic Federation.
USA TODAY reporter Steve Gardner contributed to this story.
Paris Barraza is a trending reporter covering California news at The Desert Sun. Reach her at pbarraza@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: SoCal student at center of transgender athlete debate wins at CIF
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