Latest news with #USA Fencing
Daily Mail
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Fox News star hoodwinked by misleading picture of USA fencing witness at hearing
Republican lawmakers and right leaning media figures fell for a cropped selfie that appeared to show the head of USA Fencing flipping his middle finger before appearing before a hearing on men competing in women's sports. USA Fencing Chairman Damien Lehfeldt posted a selfie image to his Instagram story wearing a suit and putting up what appeared to be his middle finger with the caption: 'Game day.' Soon after, Lehfeldt was forced to post an unedited version of the image showing he was holding up a 'peace sign' with his pointer and middle finger and not flipping off the House Oversight Committee. Lawmakers who oppose transgender athletes competing in sports that don't align with their biological gender pounced on a tweet from the Independent Council on Women's Sports (ICONS) claiming Lehfeldt was flipping the bird ahead of his testimony. 'ICONS has tweeted that I held up a middle finger. Here is the uncropped photo,' Lehfeldt posted to his Facebook story in clarifying the context of the entire image. But it was too late. Fox News host Aishah Hasnie already had picked up the story suggested the USA Fencing chair was flipping off the panel he was about to appear before. The cropped image made it look like USA Fencing Chairman Damien Lehfeldt was holding up his middle finger ahead of the hearing – but he later posted an unedited version that showed he was holding up a peace sign 'I can't show it to you because it might be a little too graphic,' the Fox star said while reporting from the halls of Congress. And Republicans on the House Oversight Committee printed out a version of his cropped Instagram image where it looked like he was flipping off the camera and blew it up on a poster at the hearing. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who sits on the panel and is a staunch advocate of keeping men out of women's sports, posted an image of the poster at Wednesday's hearing. 'Caught in 4k,' she wrote with a screen grab of the cropped version of Lehfeldt's image on a stand behind Government Reform Subcommittee Chairwoman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). One social media user said it was dishonest for Lehfeldt to crop the image, claiming he edited it to make it look provocative on purpose. 'We don't have to smear a man who smears himself,' ICONS wrote in a post responding to the new information. Lehfeldt is one of the people testifying before the Oversight hearing on Wednesday regarding Republicans' crackdown on biological men participating in women's events and sports. It comes after female fencer Stephanie Turner—who took a knee to protest facing a male opponent – voluntarily left the sport. At Wednesday's hearing, Lehfeldt defended the fact that fencing has long been a mix-gender sport with leagues where men and women commonly compete against each other. He also said he hoped that Turner would return to the sport and was 'disappointed' to hear she is taking a break.
Fox News
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
USA Fencing chairman appears to send explicit message ahead of hearing
USA Fencing chairman Damien Lehfeldt appeared to send an explicit message hours before he was set to be questioned in front of Congressional lawmakers on keeping men out of women's sports. Lehfeldt will be one of the witnesses to hear questions from the House Oversight Delivering on Government Efficiency subcommittee. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., the subcommittee chair, Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., the subcommittee ranking member, and Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, are expected to be among the lawmakers at the hearing. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON The USA Fencing official posted a photo of himself giving the camera the middle finger before the hearing started. He captioned the snap, "Game day." Independent Council on Women's Sports (ICONS) posted the photo on its social media account. The hearing comes weeks after fencer Stephanie Turner knelt in protest of a transgender opponent at an event. It sparked outrage against the organization, and it led Turner to step away from the sport altogether. The organization said last month it was preparing to amend its current policies that allow biological males to compete with women and girls in the event that it is "forced" to change them. "In the event that USA Fencing is forced to change its current stance in accordance with oversight bodies or federal legislation, the new policy states athletes competing in USA Fencing-sanctioned tournaments must compete according to their biological sex," the announcement read. \WOMEN'S SWIMMERS SPEAK OUT AFTER UNKNOWINGLY FACING TRANS COMPETITOR, FILING COMPLAINT: 'I FEEL BETRAYED' The proposed updated policy ensures that women's category "will be open exclusively to athletes of the female sex." The men's category "will be open to all other athletes who are otherwise eligible for competition." The change would go into effect across sanctioned competition levels, including Division I, IA, II, III, Junior, Cadet, Youth, Veteran and all other categories. "If adopted, this policy is solely to ensure future compliance required by oversight organizations. This policy does not reflect any change in our strong support for each individual's right to identity," the announcement read. "We recognize that many people — particularly transgender and non-binary athletes and their supporters in fencing clubs nationwide — will be profoundly impacted if this policy takes effect." CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Turner is expected to be a witness in the hearing along with Payton McNabb, the former volleyball who suffered catastrophic injuries as a result of a spike from a transgender athlete. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter .
