Transgender Team USA Cyclist Chelsea Wolfe Faces Backlash Following Posts About Charlie Kirk

Back in July 2023, BMX cyclist Chelsea Wolfe was preparing to compete at the UCI BMX Freestyle World Championships, which were held in Glasgow, Scotland, the following month. In an interview with Bicycling Magazine, Chelsea said her life felt pretty perfect until she opened up Instagram on July 14 and discovered that the UCI instituted a ban on trans athletes that went into effect in three days. "My world crumbled in that moment," she said.

After President Donald Trump was elected two years later, things got worse. The State Department blocked passports for trans and nonbinary individuals, gender-affirming care restrictions went into effect in several states, and a military ban for trans people was reinstated. It didn't help that folks like Charlie Kirk referred to trans people as an abomination. Following Kirk's assassination in September 2025, Chelsea faced backlash for things she shared on her Instagram about his death.

The day after Kirk was assassinated, Chelsea shared a series of Instagram Stories that supported celebrations over the far right-wing political pundit's death. In an early Story, which has since disappeared, Chelsea shared a photo of herself giving a thumbs up with text that read, "Being a Nazi is completely options, btw. He didn't have to do all that, but he did and now he's dead." She continues, "Don't live your life in a way that the world is better following your death."

She also shared a TikTok from the @nurdeconstruction account wherein the content creator is drawing a parallel between watching George Floyd die and watching Charlie Kirk die, suggesting that it's clear what the motives were behind both. According to him, the former was racially motivated while the latter was politically motivated. He makes a tongue-in-cheek joke about how it's fairly obvious why Kirk was assassinated.

In subsequent stories, Chelsea shares content from other accounts demanding that people stop shaming others for not mourning Kirk. One calls him a fascist organizer who built his career spreading racism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, Islamaphobia, xenophobia, and anti-immigrant hate. She shared a screenshot of some of Kirk's views, as well as a post from Bluesky, which suggests that having empathy for a white supremacist upholds white supremacy.

When people on X got wind of Chelsea's Instagram Stories, most were extremely critical and, at times, quite aggressive in their responses to her messaging. "This individual, Chelsea Wolfe, should never be allowed to represent the USA or any company," said one person, who also called her a "disgusting human being."

A few people suggested Chelsea suffered from mental health issues. According to her own Instagram bio, she describes herself as autistic, which is classified as a neurodevelopmental disorder, not a mental health disorder. There were an alarming number of anti-trans comments we won't be sharing. Actor James Woods added his two cents, but those two cents were rather cruel. As far as we know, Chelsea hasn't made any more statements about Kirk or the backlash she has received.