At the start of February, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that threatened to block federal funds from schools that allow trans women and girls to compete in women's sports. Since then, Fox News has made coverage of trans athletes a regular part of its programming, mentioning the topic in at least 6 segments every week since the order was signed.

Since February 5, when Trump signed the “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order, Fox News has aired at least 424 weekday segments mentioning trans athletes. The height of coverage for this period came during the week of March 3, when Fox aired a total of at least 59 segments mentioning the topic.
 

In the week of March 3, Democratic senators blocked a bill which, like Trump's executive order, would have prohibited the use of federal funds at institutions that allow trans athletes to compete in women’s sports. That week also saw the release of the first episode of California Gov. Gavin Newsom's podcast, in which he and conservative commentator Charlie Kirk discussed the participation of trans athletes in sports. Both of these topics generated further discussion of trans athletes on Fox News.

The one-week peak in early March of at least 59 weekday segments mentioning trans athletes nearly doubled the previous peak of at least 34 such segments. That previous peak aired over the course of just three days, from February 5 — when Trump signed his executive order “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” — through the end of that week on February 7. Since March, weeks have frequently included more than 20 segments that mention trans athletes. One week in April featured at least 37 such segments following the Trump administration's announcement that it would file suit against the state of Maine for refusing to comply with the executive order.

All of these peaks outstripped a noteworthy spike in segments mentioning trans athletes from October 14 to 18 — just weeks before the 2024 presidential election — when at least 30 such segments aired on Fox. Some of that coverage focused on a transgender college volleyball player who at the time was the target of a monthslong right-wing media campaign.

Right-wing media have previously targeted even younger trans student athletes, and in recent weeks, Fox News has continued this trend both on air and online. Last week, the network aired at least 30 weekday segments that mentioned the topic amid targeted coverage of trans student athletes in high school.

After 16-year-old AB Hernandez was doxxed by a local school board official in February, Fox News began dedicating coverage to her athletic performance. The network has since aired multiple segments attacking her participation in track and field events, including a segment aired last week in which host Will Cain referred to Hernandez on air, saying, “You have this guy, AB Hernandez, winning gold.” Since the doxxing and coverage began, Hernandez has been harassed by adults during track meets and seemingly been the target of a Truth Social post by Trump.

Fox News has been no more cautious in publicizing the names and institutional affiliations of trans athletes in its online coverage. A recent Fox News article published the names and schools of multiple trans athletes who participate in high school sports.

At the start of Pride Month, a press release from Trump’s Department of Education declared June “Title IX Month." The announcement stated that “June will now be dedicated to commemorating women and celebrating their struggle for, and achievement of, equal educational opportunity" and attacked educational institutions that have been inclusive of trans students. The Trump administration previously rolled back Title IX protections for victims of sexual misconduct, however, by implementing controversial guidelines requiring colleges to hold live hearings in which accused students can cross-examine their accusers.

A recent Fox segment covering the declaration failed to provide this context, with anchor Bill Hemmer instead declaring that Secretary of Education Linda McMahon was “upholding the administration's promise to protect girls' sports … in the wake of trans athletes winning girls' competitions.”

Methodology

Media Matters searched our internal database of all original, weekday programming on Fox News Channel (shows airing from 6 a.m. through midnight) for segments that analysts determined to mention trans athletes from February 5, 2025 — the day Trump signed his executive order “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” — through June 6, 2025.

Charts by Molly Butler