After former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom was removed from a WNBA game Sunday night, U.S. Sen. Mike Lee repeatedly posted in support of the former Utah Jazz player and made a series of derisive comments about transgender people and the WNBA.

Kanter Freedom’s attendance at the Indiana Fever-Chicago Sky game came amidst an ongoing debate about whether transgender women should be allowed to play in the league and comments Fever guard Sophie Cunningham made in a recent interview when she said she wanted to “protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”

Notably, there are currently no transgender women in the WNBA and no transgender women attempting to play in the WNBA.

The debate over a hypothetical player, however, has become a favorite culture war issue for conservative commentators and elected officials ahead of November’s midterms — where Republicans are expected to lose congressional seats amidst an extended, unauthorized war in Iran that has spiked gas prices to more than $4 per gallon on average across the country.

At Sunday night’s game, Kanter Freedom wore a shirt that read, “Woman, noun: Adult female,” and got into a verbal altercation with Sky player Natasha Cloud, who made a basket and then pointed at the former NBA player and shouted. Kanter Freedom then stood up and began moving toward the court, stepping over a camera operator, before security stopped him and removed him from the game.

On X, Lee shared a post from someone saying Kanter Freedom had been harassing players and wrote, “Wearing this shirt isn’t ‘harassing’ anyone.” When another poster called Kanter Freedom a “loser,” Lee said, “Or maybe he just wants to protect women.”

Earlier this month, Kanter Freedom announced unseriously on social media that he now identifies as a woman and was declaring for the WNBA draft.

On Monday, Lee referenced the former player’s publicity stunt and wrote, “If being a biological male isn’t an impediment, then why won’t the WNBA let Enes Kanter Freedom play in the NBA?” — seeming to mean the WNBA.

A spokesperson for Lee did not respond to a request for clarification or further comment regarding Lee’s posts.

“As long as @WNBA refuses to define the word “woman”—and declines to adopt policies excluding biological males—it has no valid basis for excluding the brave and stunning @EnesFreedom," Lee doubled down in another post.

Kanter Freedom, who is from Turkey and added “Freedom” to his name after becoming a U.S. citizen, is now 34 years old and has not played professional basketball since the 2021-2022 season, when he averaged just 3.7 points per game for the Boston Celtics, where he played his final seasons.

In Congress, Lee’s priority ahead of the midterms has been the SAVE America Act, a bill that would require people to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote, and a recent amendment to the bill seeks to ban transgender athletes from competing in any league that receives federal funding after President Donald Trump demanded such a provision be added to the legislation.

Lee unsuccessfully pushed for lawmakers to skip their summer recess and stay in session to pass the bill. He has also called for ending the filibuster — a Senate practice that requires 60 votes to end debate — in order to force the bill through Congress.

The WNBA, which does not receive any federal funding, does not have a policy about transgender players and has never had a transgender player, though the most recent collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players states, “Only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA.”

And after a meeting earlier this month to discuss the issue, the league said in a statement, “There are no immediate eligibility matters affecting the WNBA, and we strongly denounce the bad-faith efforts to use these topics to demean or marginalize others.”

Lee’s comments on X Monday are not the first time he has criticized the WNBA and transgender people, having recently repeatedly praised Cunningham for putting her hand over her heart during the national anthem, calling her the league’s “only patriot,” and calling for the firing of Fever coach Stephanie White because she said she was unqualified to discuss whether transgender players should be allowed in the league.

“Why have a WNBA if there’s no agreement as to what the ‘W’ stands for?” Lee wrote August 11. On August 13, he posted, “If you play in the WNBA, You shouldn’t have an Adam’s Apple.”

In a Fox News interview after the game, Kanter Freedom said he had celebrated a Cunningham three-pointer — the only points she scored Sunday night — and claimed that when Cloud shouted to him a few possessions later, she said of Cunningham, “She’s not going to sleep with you.”

Following Sunday night’s game and her brief altercation with Kanter Freedom, Cloud did not speak with the media but wrote on Threads, “To every trans kid/person, You are apart of MY community & tribe. You belong. You’re loved. You’re seen. You’re perfect as you are. & you will always be protected by me.”