Los Angeles, California - Basketball star and internet sensation Sophie Cunningham has become a lightning rod in the debate over transgender athletes in women's sports after her call to "protect young girls" in locker rooms drew White House praise.
WNBA guard Cunningham first soared to popularity last year as the so-called "enforcer" for her Indiana Fever teammate Caitlin Clark, frequently exacting physical on-court retribution against opponents who mess with the league's most famous player.
Footage of Cunningham coolly staring down and pointing mockingly at one such foe for 22 unflinching seconds following a scuffle last month went viral, launching countless memes.
But the 6-foot-1 blonde from Missouri – nicknamed "MAGA Barbie" by some observers in a league increasingly riven by racial tensions and stereotypes – is drawing headlines this week for her views on trans athletes.
"I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn't have to go against biological men," she told ESPN in an interview published Tuesday.
"I think it's kind of common sense... It's really important to protect children, and that's little girls who are also involved in that category," she told reporters before a game Wednesday.
Her comments have further stoked what is already one of the US' most fiercely contested culture-war battles.
Republican president Donald Trump has repeatedly targeted gender non-conforming people, and last year issued an executive order banning transgender athletes from women's sports, allowing federal agencies to halt funding to any institution that resists.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday leapt to Cunningham's defense, dubbing "left-wing" backlash against the star player "ludicrous" and "astonishing."
Trump "is following the story. As you know, this is something the president feels strongly about as well, and the American people do too," Leavitt said.