US President Donald Trump is facing backlash after he mocked a transgender athlete while addressing House Republican members at the Kennedy Center on Tuesday.
During his 90-minute speech, Trump joked about being open-minded to win the votes of transgender people, according to an Associated Press report.
He then proceeded to 'act out' a transgender athlete attempting to lift weights in a mocking manner, followed by a comparison with a male weightlifter, prompting laughter from the audience.
"My wife hates it when I do this," he joked. "She's a very classy person. She says, 'It's so unpresidential.'
"I said, ‘But I did become President!" he recounted.
He quoted First Lady Melania Trump, saying, “She says, 'Darling, please - the weightlifting is terrible.'"
Trump continued by pretending to be the transgender athlete struggling to lift what he referred to as "tiny" weights, stating that the athlete 'walked off the stage crying.' He then demonstrated a male athlete lifting the same weights with ease above his head..
"I think it was 112 pounds - it's crazy!" Trump remarked to the room.
Trumps attitude toward transgender issues
This isn't the first time Trump has faced criticism over his attitude toward transgender issues.
In November, the Supreme Court allowed Donald Trump's administration to bar applicants for US passports from designating the sex reflecting their gender identities on the document, part of the Republican president's crackdown on the rights of transgender Americans.
Later in December, a group of Democratic state attorneys general last month sued the Trump administration to block proposed rules that would cut children’s access to gender-affirming care, the latest court battle over Trump’s efforts to eliminate legal protections for transgender people.
Reuters contributed to this report.