Sports
Maine 'MAGA' parent silenced at school board meeting during speech opposing trans athletes in girls' sports
A school board meeting in Maine’s capital city of Augusta on Wednesday night featured a contentious interaction between a parent in a “MAGA” hat and the school board president over the state’s ongoing controversy over trans athlete inclusion in girls’ sports.
Augusta School Board Chair Martha Witham cut off local parent Nick Blanchard while he discussed the controversial issue and a petition he launched to have Cony Middle and High School Principal Kim Liscomb removed from her position, as seen in footage of the meeting.
Liscomb is currently the president of the Maine Principals’ Association (MPA), which supports transgender athletes’ participation in school sports based on gender identity and has been a subject of scrutiny by President Donald Trump’s administration over the issue.
Blanchard, who showed up to the meeting in a “MAGA” hat and a T-shirt of Gov. Janet Mills that read, “You’re fired,” started his speech by praising the six of the seven members of the board who voted to adopt the 2020 interpretation of Title IX that did not allow trans athletes to compete as girls.
Blanchard also condemned the board member who voted against it, which prompted the first interruption by Witham.
“Good job and thank you to the six members that voted to go back to the 2020 interpretation of Title IX, and shame on the one board member that voted no,” Blanchard began.
Witham then cut him off, saying, “I’m sorry, but negative comments will not be allowed.”
Blanchard then proceeded to discuss his petition to have Liscomb removed.
MAINE GIRL INVOLVED IN TRANS ATHLETE BATTLE REVEALS HOW STATE’S POLICIES HURT HER CHILDHOOD AND SPORTS CAREER
“This petition is asking … if you the school board members will put up a vote,” Blanchard began before being cut off again by Witham.
Witham told Blanchard that his statements would “not be tolerated” and warned him that he would be asked to step down from the podium if he continued making “defamatory remarks.”
When Blanchard asked how his remarks were “defamatory,” Witham responded by saying “I don’t have to explain it to you.”
“These comments will not be tolerated at the meeting directed toward us or to anybody else in this room,” Witham said.
Blanchard then agreed to proceed with his speech without referring to Liscomb by name.
“So, as most of you know, someone who is the president of the Maine Principal’s Association,” Blanchard began before being interrupted by Witham for the final time.
“Nope, close enough. I’m sorry, you’re done, Mr. Blanchard,” Witham said, ordering him off the podium.
As Blanchard walked away, he yelled “Communist China right here!”
Fox News Digital has reached out to Augusta Schools for comment.
Maine is currently considered ground zero in the national debate over trans inclusion in girls’ and women’s sports as multiple federal agencies have levied pressure on the state since February to amend its current policies that enable trans inclusion.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture froze funding to the state last week, and the Department of Health and Human Services has already referred the Maine Department of Education, the MPA and Greely High School to the Justice Department.
Friday is the deadline for the state to amend its current policies or face another referral to the justice department by the U.S. Department of Education.
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Sports
Former Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb reacts to Jalen Hurts skipping Trump White House visit
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Philadelphia Eagles quarterback and reigning Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts divided fans when he chose to skip the team’s celebratory White House visit in April.
Hurts was one of several Eagles players who chose not to go, alongside AJ Brown, DeVonta Smith, Jalen Carter and Brandon Graham. But as the quarterback, Hurts’ absence garnered particular scrutiny. Hurts told reporters on May 20 that he didn’t go because he “wasn’t available.”
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) talks to offensive coordinator Kellen Moore during the first half of the NFL Super Bowl 59 football game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Former Eagles star quarterback Donovan McNabb, who says he’s mentored Hurts since coming to Philadelphia, gave his reaction to his protégé’s absence in an interview with Fox News Digital. McNabb also suggested that Hurts’ absence was based on a decision.
“I don’t have a problem with it at all. I agree, I totally agree with him and the decision that he made, it’s a grown man decision, and he stuck with it,” McNabb said. “And for him, his focus again is to get himself ready to possibly get back to another Super Bowl.”
McNabb added that he would have made the same decision as Hurts.
DONOVAN MCNABB SAYS THE EAGLES LOSING ANDY REID WAS A BIGGER MISTAKE THAN THE GIANTS LOSING SAQUON BARKLEY
President Donald Trump honors the Super Bowl LIX champion Philadelphia Eagles at The White House in Washington, D.C., on April 28, 2025. (Josh Morgan-USA Today via Imagn Images)
Hurts also raised eyebrows again when he attended the Met Gala the following week after missing the White House.
Still, the vast majority of the Eagles’ roster and coaching staff did attend the White House and celebrated with Trump, as well as the president’s daughter, Ivanka. Those players included star running back Saquon Barkley.
“It’s everybody’s choice,” McNabb said of the players who went. “You don’t harp on anybody else’s decision of what they made, it’s a decision. It’s a personal decision that he made, for both, for Jalen and for Saquon,” McNabb said.
“And again, after you do your visit or whatever it may be, you get right back to focusing on the task at hand and seeing if you can have that opportunity to be invited back to the White House.”
When the Eagles won the Super Bowl back in 2018, the team decided not to attend the White House. Trump rescinded the invitation to host the Eagles after several players said they would not participate in the visit because of his previous criticisms of national anthem protests.
The Los Angeles Dodgers visited the White House several weeks before the Eagles did, to commemorate their World Series title. Mookie Betts, who skipped a visit in 2019 with the Boston Red Sox, attended this year.
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Seth Hernandez, the senior pitching standout at Corona High, has been chosen the national baseball player of the year by Gatorade.
Hernandez learned of the prestigious honor during a surprise presentation at Corona on Thursday. He was named state player of the year on Tuesday.
“Super surprised,” he said after a presentation in which he was told by coach Andy Wise that he’d be taking a team photo and instead found former major leaguer Dexter Fowler greeting him with the player of the year trophy while family, friends and teammates were cheering him on.
The Gatorade national baseball player of the year award that was presented to Corona pitcher Seth Hernandez.
(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Hernandez joined Corona last season after two years of being home schooled. He has developed into the top high school pitching prospect available in next month’s MLB amateur draft.
“At the end of the day, I have brothers for life and I’ll never forget the memories I spent with them,” he said of his high school days.
He went 9-1 this season with an 0.39 ERA and 105 strikeouts in 53 1/3 innings with only seven walks.
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Boxer and influencer Jake Paul weighed in on the highly-publicized feud between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk on Thursday.
In a post on X, Paul suggested that the spat between Trump and Musk was symptomatic of a broader problem within the Republican party.
“One of the problems with the Republican Party is on display today (As a current Republican) We unfortunately have these Alpha male egos and leaders who aren’t mature enough sometimes. They’re 50+ years old and diss tweeting each other Elon and Trump are great but they need to work together and not make America look bad,” Paul wrote.
Paul’s comments prompted mixed responses on X.
Women’s sports rights activist Paula Scanlan praised Paul’s take as “rational.”
“You know it’s bad when Jake Paul has a sane and rational take here,” Scanlan wrote.
Paul’s post even garnered praise from the left-wing content account Leftism.
Other users criticized Paul’s take, in defense of Trump.
“Pretty sure this fight has been 98% Elon. Trump has been very restrained,” wrote the conservative influencer Pro America Politics.
The YouTuber Joey Salads responded to Paul arguing, “Elon started it.”
LOGAN AND JAKE PAUL KEEP IT REAL ON WHY THEY CONTINUE TO STAY IN FRONT OF CAMERAS
Paul has been a vocal supporter of Trump over the last year, endorsing the president prior to the election in a lengthy YouTube video in late October. Paul pointed to several statistics about the economy under the Biden-Harris administration in comparison to Trump’s presidency and called on voters to vote for change.
“Democrats have been in power for 12 of the last 16 years. So, if we aren’t happy with the current political state, economic state, environmental state, then who is to blame?”
Paul also addressed women’s reproductive rights, transgender athletes competing in women’s sports, and protecting women’s spaces in the video.
“As a future father, you will find me dead before I send my daughter to a school where men can go into her bathroom and where men can compete against her in sports. It’s bulls—. That’s taking away a woman’s rights.”
Jake Paul is celebrating Donald Trump’s victory. (Getty Images)
Paul celebrated Trump’s November victory and even attended the president’s inauguration on January 20. That day the boxer event criticized those who opposed Trump after the president’s inaugural speech.
“Any American who isn’t in support of Trump after this speech simply hates America and doesn’t want what’s best for this country and the world,” Paul wrote on X.
But now, Paul has proven willing to be critical of the Republican party as well.
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