President Joe Biden called out the vast and longstanding pay gap between men and women in sports after current WNBA salaries drew widespread criticism on social media this week.

On Tuesday, Biden wrote on X , formerly Twitter, that women in sports continue to push new boundaries and inspire us all.

But right now were seeing that even if youre the best, women are not paid their fair share, he wrote. Its time that we give our daughters the same opportunities as our sons and ensure women are paid what they deserve.

The presidents message was posted the day after Spotrac, a sports financial information site, published a now-viral graphic featuring the rookie contract for Caitlin Clark, who was selected with the No. 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA draft on Monday night by the Indiana Fever.

The graphic showed that Clark, the NCAA Division 1 all-time leading scorer, is set to receive less than $80,000 for her rookie year.

People on X were outraged over the reality of WNBA salaries.

In 2024, WNBA rookies in the Nos. 1-4 draft picks make $76,535 their first year, $78,066 their second year and $85,873 their third year, with a fourth-year option of $97,582, according to the WNBA and the players unions collective bargaining agreement.

In contrast, the NBA rookie scale for the 2023 NBA first round draft pick was reported to start at roughly $10.13 million with a potential 20% salary increase according to multiple reports .