What happened at a Virginia college to compel its women’s swim team to endorse Trump?

Group who opposed trans athlete joining team supports the Republican presidential candidate’s stance on women’s rights

Donald Trump was joined on stage by the Roanoke College women’s swimming team who offered the Republican a full-throated endorsement.
Their endorsement came amid fears in the Trump campaign that he is failing to appeal to female voters.
So why did this women’s college swim team come out to back Trump?
Transgender policy has been a cornerstone of Trump’s White House bid.
In 2023 a former member of the men’s swimming team at the co-educational college applied to join the women’s squad.
Angered by the move, the women’s team sued the National Collegiate Athletics Association, saying their civil rights had been violated.
The swimmer has since withdrawn the application.
Wearing pink T-shirts reading “Keep hot dogs out of women’s sports”, the team threw its support behind Trump at a rally in Virginia.
“Last year, the radical Left’s gender insanity arrived right here in Salem when a man was allowed to transfer onto the Roanoke College’s women’s swim team,” Trump said.
“I just met them backstage. They’re great swimmers. … The brave members of the swim team stood up to the transgender fanatics, something new in our country.
“We will of course keep men out of women’s sports, I promise,” he added.
Rounding on the Democrats, Lilly Mullins, the swimming team captain, thanked the Republican candidate for his support.
“Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have advocated for and pushed for this anti-woman, sex-based discrimination to continue all over this country, point blank, it is unfair,” she said to applause from the crowd.
“I would like to thank president Trump for standing with women and promising to protect the rights of all of us.
“We are so lucky to have a leader like president Trump who has common sense, who knows what a strong woman is and will fight for generations of girls to come, thank you so much.”
The Trump campaign has spent millions of dollars on TV adverts highlighting Ms Harris’s past support for sex-change surgery for prison inmates.
It believes that attacking the Democrats in the culture war could be a vote-winner this year as it seeks to paint Ms Harris and her supporters as extreme.