Caitlyn Jenner has described Donald Trump as an “elite athlete,” citing the former president’s self-reported stats at a senior golf tournament as the basis of her assertion.
In a post to his platform Truth Social in September, Trump claimed to have won the “Senior Club Championship,” which included competitors at least 50 years of age, at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. In the past, Trump has made frequent boasts about his success as a golfer, many of which, as happened in September, generated pushback and skepticism online.
“I am pleased to report, for those that care, that I just won the Senior Club Championship (must be over 50 years old!) at Bedminster (Trump National Golf Club), shooting a round of 67,” Trump’s post read.
“Now, some people will think that sounds low, but there is no hanky/lanky. Many people watch, plus I am surrounded by Secret Service Agents. Not much you can do even if you wanted to, and I don’t. For some reason, I am just a good golfer/athlete—I have won many Club Championships, and it is always a great honor!”
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images;/Mike Marsland/Mike Marsland/Getty Images for Sky
In a second post, attempting to combat potential skepticism of his accomplishment, Trump then shared the phone number of Mickey Gallagher, the “head of professional golf” at the Bedminster club. At the time, Newsweek was unable to reach anyone using the number prior to publishing.
Jenner, who is an avowed Trump supporter and is backing him in his 2024 presidential election bid, alluded to the erstwhile real estate mogul’s purported sporting abilities when she praised his performance at a rally this week in Iowa.
The former Keeping Up with the Kardashians star—who won gold as a decathlete champ at the 1976 Olympics, decades before coming out as a transgender woman in 2015—took to X, formerly Twitter, to share a screenshot from Truth Social.
In the post, which was shared by Trump, Jenner is shown saying: “TRUMP GOES FOR GOLD!!!! Maybe even platinum?! Wouldn’t expect anything less from the greatest POTUS in modern history @realdonaldtrump.”
Captioning the post, Jenner, who has been vocal in her stance against transgender women competing in women’s sports, wrote: “From one elite athlete to another (67 Club Champion) OUR FUTURE POTUS. Iowa—my alma mater state—is MAGA Country!”
The post was met with a mixture of support and derision, with several detractors honing in on Jenner’s description of Trump as an “elite athlete.”
While Jenner now supports Trump and backed him during the 2016 presidential campaign, she spoke out against him in an op-ed published by The Washington Post in 2018.
“The reality is that the trans community is being relentlessly attacked by this president,” she wrote at the time. “The leader of our nation has shown no regard for an already marginalized and struggling community. He has ignored our humanity. He has insulted our dignity.
“He has made trans people into political pawns as he whips up animus against us in an attempt to energize the most right-wing segment of his party, claiming his anti-transgender policies are meant to ‘protect the country.’ This is politics at its worst. It is unacceptable, it is upsetting, and it has deeply, personally hurt me.”
Jenner called her efforts to work with the Trump administration a mistake and criticized the then-president for his pursuits against LGBTQ rights, including his ban on trans soldiers and his reversal of former President Barack Obama’s protections for trans schoolchildren.
“It’s clear these policies have come directly from Trump, and they have been sanctioned, passively or actively, by the Republicans by whose continued support he governs. My hope in him—in them—was misplaced, and I cannot support anyone who is working against our community,” Jenner wrote. “I do not support Trump. I must learn from my mistakes and move forward.”
She has since said that she has openly supported Trump on his 2024 presidential run.
Jenner, who underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2017, last year claimed that she and her staff had been inundated with death threats and hate mail from the “so-called ‘inclusive’ LGBT community” in reaction to her views.