The Senate GOP's The Senate Leadership Fund recently released an ad condemning Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown for voting to allow men to compete in women’s sports. On Thursday, PolitiFact slapped a “false” label on the claim, but it had to allow Brown to have it both ways multiple times to do so.
Seth Richardson writes, “The ad cited Brown’s 2021 and 2024 votes against failed amendments to two broad funding bills as evidence for the claim.”
Richardson says this is wrong because “the amendments would have stripped federal funding from schools and colleges that allowed transgender girls and women to compete in sports matching their gender identity. They did not dictate athletic eligibility. Federal law rarely dictates who is eligible for specific sports.”
Senate Leadership Fund communications director Torunn Sinclair attempted to rebut, “You're funding something, which is a vote to allow something to happen."
Sinclair is essentially correct. The federal government used to use the threat of withholding federal funding to compel states to have certain speed limits, and this isn’t any different.
Still, Richardson continued:
Brown spokesperson Matt Keyes described both votes as 'poison pill' amendments — designed to render legislation ineffective — to broader funding bills. [Tommy] Tuberville’s amendments were to the 2021 American Rescue Plan and a 2024 bill funding multiple federal departments. Both failed along party lines.
Keyes said Brown supports transgender rights, but Brown’s vote also was to preserve Ohio school funding.
Brown 'believes there should be a fair process in place for athletics and will always fight to make sure Ohio schools have the funding they need,' Keyes said.
Richardson and Keyes are trying to have it both ways. On one hand, they want to say Brown voted no because Tuberville’s amendments were unrelated to crucial legislation, but on the other, they basically admit that Brown would still have voted no on a standalone bill. Furthermore, Richardson lets Keyes get away with politicianspeak. “There should be a fair process in place for athletics” is an answer designed to avoid having to either offend Brown’s left-wing base or more moderate swing voters in an increasingly red state.
Next, Richardson tried to have it both ways again, this time on whether Congress even has the power to regulate the issue. He claims that high school and collegiate sports are run by the states and governing bodies, respectively. However, he also acknowledges, “Some federal laws, such as Title IX, prohibit sex-based discrimination for programs receiving federal funding, which includes nearly all public schools.”
In his conclusion, Richardson writes, “Brown did not vote to allow this. He voted against two amendments to much broader spending bills that would have stripped funding from schools that allowed transgender athletes to compete in sports matching their gender identity. The amendments did not pertain to athletic eligibility.”
Title IX contributed to the expansion of women’s sports and conservatives now believe it can be used to protect them. States that discriminate against women by allowing men to compete in their sports can have their federal funds taken away, but Sherrod Brown does not think they should. Giving Republicans a “false” rating is itself false.
