Politics
President Trump Faces Backlash After Telling Young Girl She’s Too Short for Volleyball: ‘Soccer Might Be Better’
President Donald Trump attended an event meant to celebrate young athletes, but he somehow ended up as the villain in a little girl’s volleyball story.
Trump is facing criticism after a brief exchange with a young girl during a White House youth fitness ceremony raised eyebrows online.
As per the video shared by TMZ on Tuesday, May 5, the exchange took place during the Presidential Physical Fitness Youth Challenge signing ceremony in the Oval Office, where kids joined Trump to celebrate sports and youth achievement.
During the event, a girl (who has not been identified) shared that she plays volleyball and hoped to try soccer over the summer. She was among several children invited to participate in sports activities tied to the White House initiative.
Trump zeroed in on her height. “And with your height, do you smash the ball, the volleyball? Can you get up high? Can you jump high?” he asked.
After the girl indicated she could not jump especially high, the president, 79, replied, “Soccer might be better.”
Though the exchange lasted less than 30 seconds, clips quickly spread across social media, drawing heat.
One social media user wrote on X, “Nothing like having the president shit on your dreams on camera.”
A second user chimed in and wrote: “Uninspiring ‘leader’ killing dreams with his politics and directly murdering this little girl’s dreams.”
A third blunt reaction read: ‘lol Trump: crushing your dreams since 1997.”
A fourth added, “Wtf kind of president shits on the dreams of the children of his nation?”
The moment also made its way onto late-night television almost immediately.
During the Wednesday, May 6, episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, host Jimmy Kimmel — who has never minced his words on Trump — sarcastically described him as a “very, very normal, totally lucid, very rational, clear-minded, level-headed person sharing his thoughts on gender reassignment with a group of young kids,” drawing loud reactions from the studio audience.
The White House has not publicly responded to the backlash or clarified whether Trump intended the comments as a joke.
