Donald Trump Jr. has sparked outrage yet again, this time with a post that seems to mock WNBA players.
The former president’s eldest son, often called Don Jr, is no stranger to stirring controversy. He recently faced backlash for making a seemingly callous remark about Joe Biden.
Earlier this year, in May, it was announced that the 82-year-old Biden had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Amid the flood of well wishes, Don Jr seized the moment to take a jab at the Bidens.
“What I want to know is how did Dr. Jill Biden miss stage five metastatic cancer or is this yet another coverup???”, he commented at the time. His remarks were widely criticized as ‘shameless’ and ‘vile.’
Now, he has struck a nerve again, this time appearing to ridicule female basketball players amid an increase in sexual harassment incidents on the court.
The 47-year-old posted a meme on his Instagram account featuring his father, Donald Trump, standing on the White House roof looking downward.
In the altered image, a bright green sex toy and several WNBA players on a basketball court are visible below, insinuating that Trump has ‘thrown’ the item towards the sportswomen.
Despite Don Jr’s caption of the meme being “Posted without further comment” accompanied by three laughing emojis, critics argue that his sharing of the post is a ‘disgusting attempt to joke about the misogynistic harassment of WNBA players.’
This meme emerged amid a series of incidents where sex toys have been tossed onto WNBA courts, prompting strong reactions from players, coaches, and commentators who stress that sexism and misogyny in women’s sports persist.
Reacting to Don Jr’s involvement, numerous Reddit users highlighted the contradiction between this attitude and Republicans’ claims of ‘saving women’s sports’ by opposing transgender athletes in women’s categories.
“This pic + this party claiming the moral high ground on all things = cognitive dissonance of the highest order,” commented one user.
“I thought all the election ads said they were the party to protect women’s sports lol,” another added.
Another user sarcastically remarked: “But it’s trans women that are the real threat to women’s sports.”
Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve addressed the alarming rise of sex toys being thrown onto courts, telling CNN, “This has been going on for centuries, the sexualization of women. This is the latest version of that. And it’s not funny and it should not be the butt of jokes on radio shows, or in print or any comments.”
Reeve further stated, “The sexualization of women is what’s used to hold women down and this is no different. This is its latest form, and we should write about it in that way. These people that are doing this should be held accountable and we’re not the butt of the joke. They’re the problem.”
Two men, aged 18 and 23, have been arrested in connection with these incidents. A group of cryptocurrency meme coin creators has allegedly claimed responsibility, which might explain the green color of the dildo in Don Jr’s meme, as it matches a new meme coin linked to a type of sex toy.
A WNBA spokesperson informed CCN that the league is collaborating with law enforcement to take action against ‘anyone engaged in this conduct or otherwise involved in sponsoring this reckless and unacceptable behavior,’ aiming to arrest and charge those responsible.