Former ESPN host Keith Olbermann clashed with Riley Gaines this week following the University of Pennsylvania’s decision to strip trans-identifying male swimmer Lia Thomas of his program records.
Olbermann called Gaines “whiny” in an X post on Tuesday after the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights announced its agreement with UPenn.
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Wanted to congratulate Whiny Gaines on now being able to say she finished tied for FOURTH not tied for FIFTH in the Lia Thomas race (<a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Riley_Gaines_</a>)
&mdash; Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) <a href="https://twitter.com/KeithOlbermann/status/1940215159034941516?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
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“Wanted to congratulate Whiny Gaines on now being able to say she finished tied for FOURTH not tied for FIFTH in the Lia Thomas race,” he wrote.
Thomas, who is biologically male, was the first trans-identifying swimmer to win an NCAA Division I title, setting multiple school records and tying for fifth place with Gaines in the 200-yard freestyle event at the 2022 NCAA Division I Women&#8217;s Swimming and Diving Championships. Since then, Gaines has actively spoken against biological men competing in women’s sports.
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“Thank you!” Gaines shot back in a reply to Olbermann. “And while you’re keeping track, make sure to congratulate Emma Weyant, the right National Champ in the 500 freestyle, too.”
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Thank you! And while you’re keeping track, make sure to congratulate Emma Weyant, the right National Champ in the 500 freestyle, too. 
(If you&#39;re insinuating 5th in the nation is bad, what do you call a man who ranks 462nd nationally in the men&#39;s category?) <a href="https://t.co/liCRPraFQD">https://t.co/liCRPraFQD</a>
&mdash; Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_/status/1940224425485537588?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Emma Weyant finished in second place behind Thomas in the 500 freestyle at the 2022 NCAA swimming championship.
She added, “If you&#8217;re insinuating 5th in the nation is bad, what do you call a man who ranks 462nd nationally in the men&#8217;s category?”
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning men from competing in women’s sports. The NCAA updated its gender eligibility policies in compliance with the administration.
UPenn President J. Larry Jameson <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/sports/riley-gaines-clashes-keith-olbermann-after-upenn-strips-lia-thomas-program-records?intcmp=tw_fnc&amp;taid=686554021cab570001444d27&amp;utm_campaign=trueanthem&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter">said</a> the university plans to “fully comply” with both Title IX and the NCAA’s new policies.
“The University will not – on the basis of sex – exclude female students from participation in, deny female students the benefits of, or subject female students to discrimination under, any athletics programs,” Jameson said. “In addition, in providing to female student-athletes intimate facilities such as locker rooms and bathrooms in connection with Penn Athletics, such facilities shall be strictly separated on the basis of sex and comparably provided to each sex.”

Photo courtesy of Riley Gaines

Riley Gaines Fires Back After Ex-ESPN Host Mocks Her Advocacy For Women

Keith Olbermann

Lia Thomas

Politics

Riley Gaines

Social Issues

Transgender Athletes

University of Pennsylvania

Former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines thanked President Donald Trump for defending women in sports and for bringing about a deal that resulted in the University of Pennsylvania apologizing for the damage wrought by its decision to allow a trans-identifying male swimmer to compete as a member of its women&#8217;s team.
The agreement also saw Lia (formerly William) Thomas stripped of medals and the records returned to the women who had rightfully earned them — including Gaines, who famously tied with Thomas for fifth place in the 200 freestyle at the 2022 NCAA Championships.
&#8220;UPenn has agreed to right its wrongs, restore records to the rightful female athletes, and issue an apology to the women impacted by the man they allowed to compete as a woman. Are pigs flying? God bless @realDonaldTrump,&#8221; Gaines wrote in a post on X.
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UPenn has agreed to right its wrongs, restore records to the rightful female athletes, and issue an apology to the women impacted by the man they allowed to compete as a woman.
Are pigs flying?
God bless <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a>. <a href="https://t.co/PZxcieyp7m">pic.twitter.com/PZxcieyp7m</a>
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_/status/1940187628021694922?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2025</a></blockquote>
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But even as Gaines was thanking Trump for his administration&#8217;s efforts to protect women in athletics, others were pointing out the fact that if Gaines herself had not been one of the first to take a stand — to protect herself and other women and girls — that the result she saw on Tuesday might never have been realized.
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&#8220;UPenn caves after federal investigation into Lia Thomas, and will now enforce Trump’s mandate to BAN men from women’s sports. This is a major win for women everywhere. And it wouldn’t have happened without Riley Gaines. She fought hard and now the tide is turning,&#8221; conservative podcast host Benny Johnson posted.
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UPenn caves after federal investigation into Lia Thomas, and will now enforce Trump’s mandate to BAN men from women’s sports.
This is a major win for women everywhere. And it wouldn’t have happened without Riley Gaines. She fought hard and now the tide is turning. 👊🏻🔥 <a href="https://t.co/rlkgdvIWEz">pic.twitter.com/rlkgdvIWEz</a>
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) <a href="https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1940165174364876875?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Paula Scanlan, a teammate of Thomas&#8217; at UPenn, spoke out even after being told by school officials to simply shut up and swim. She credits Gaines with helping her to take a stand.
&#8220;I wanted to take a quick moment to thank @Riley_Gaines_. She’s become the teammate I wish I had in college. I was silenced, bullied and unsupported by my teammates and my university. Today and everyday, I’m grateful for our friendship and how much she’s helped me grow,&#8221; Scanlan posted.
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I wanted to take a quick moment to thank <a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Riley_Gaines_</a>
She’s become the teammate I wish I had in college. I was silenced, bullied and unsupported by my teammates and my university.
Today and everyday, I’m grateful for our friendship and how much she’s helped me grow ❤️ <a href="https://t.co/u1RljDLuue">pic.twitter.com/u1RljDLuue</a>
— Paula Scanlan (@PaulaYScanlan) <a href="https://twitter.com/PaulaYScanlan/status/1940217285819691464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Former champion gymnast and XX-XY Athletics founder Jennifer Sey added, &#8220;UPenn rescinded all of the accolades given to Will Thomas because we have FREEDOM OF SPEECH in the US. @PaulaYScanlan @Riley_Gaines_ @xx_xyathletics and many others spoke out about the injustice. It made a difference in the end. Happy independence day (sic)!&#8221;
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UPenn rescinded all of the accolades given to Will Thomas because we have FREEDOM OF SPEECH in the US. <a href="https://twitter.com/PaulaYScanlan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PaulaYScanlan</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Riley_Gaines_</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/xx_xyathletics?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@xx_xyathletics</a> and many others spoke out about the injustice.
It made a difference in the end.
Happy independence day! 🇺🇸 <a href="https://t.co/tqpOu7dzsO">pic.twitter.com/tqpOu7dzsO</a>
— Jennifer Sey (@JenniferSey) <a href="https://twitter.com/JenniferSey/status/1940417391495684602?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;It’s wild that there is a percentage of people brainwashed by their religion (liberalism) to believe it’s &#8216;evil&#8217; to stop people w/ testicles from violating women &amp; dominating their sports. Anyway, shoutout @Riley_Gaines_ for trailblazing on this issue when it was unpopular,&#8221; Jason Howerton added.
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It’s wild that there is a percentage of people brainwashed by their religion (liberalism) to believe it’s “evil” to stop people w/ testicles from violating women &amp; dominating their sports.
Anyway, shoutout <a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Riley_Gaines_</a> for trailblazing on this issue when it was unpopular <a href="https://t.co/8eu3d4q3mC">pic.twitter.com/8eu3d4q3mC</a>
— Jason Howerton (@jason_howerton) <a href="https://twitter.com/jason_howerton/status/1940233088011051510?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
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NCAA SWIMMING: MAR 18 Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships

‘Are Pigs Flying?’: Riley Gaines Praises Trump As UPenn Strips Records From Trans Swimmer

‘Are Pigs Flying?’: Riley Gaines Praises Trump As UPenn Strips Records, Titles From Trans Swimmer

Donald Trump

Executive

NCAA

Women's sports

Women's Swimming

WASHINGTON—The White House has struck a deal with the University of Pennsylvania that requires the school to strip trans-identifying male swimmer Lia Thomas of the titles he won on the women&#8217;s team, The Daily Wire has learned.
The University of Pennsylvania will restore all titles to female athletes that were &#8220;misappropriated&#8221; by male athletes, according to a landmark agreement between the Trump administration and the University of Pennsylvania, a White House official shared with The Daily Wire.
Thomas competed as a female swimmer at the University of Pennsylvania, infamously tying with University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines in 2022 at the NCAAs and taking her trophy — prompting Gaines to take a stand against men in women&#8217;s sports.
&#8220;President Trump has been one of the strongest and most consistent champions for protecting women’s sports,&#8221; the White House official shared. &#8220;Under his leadership, the administration has taken decisive action — through executive orders, public messaging, and policy initiatives — to affirm a simple truth: men do not belong in women’s sports.&#8221;
&#8220;In stark contrast, the University of Pennsylvania has repeatedly violated the spirit and letter of Title IX by allowing biological males to compete in women’s athletic programs — undermining decades of progress and the hard-earned achievements of female athletes,&#8221; the official added.
Under the new agreement, the school is promising to comply with Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits sex discrimination in schools that receive federal funding.
The University of Pennsylvania will not allow males to compete in female sports or use female &#8220;intimate facilities&#8221; and will adopt &#8220;biology-based definitions&#8221; for &#8220;male&#8221; and &#8220;female&#8221; that comply with Trump&#8217;s executive orders on the issue.
The school will also send a &#8220;personalized letter of apology to each impacted female swimmer,&#8221; according to the agreement.
Gaines is one of the female athletes who could receive a letter. She spoke at a White House event on Thursday celebrating the agreement, along with several other female athletes who competed with trans-identifying males.
Shortly after Trump took office, the NCAA, which governs sports for more than half a million college athletes, <a href="https://www.ncaa.org/news/2025/2/6/media-center-ncaa-announces-transgender-student-athlete-participation-policy-change.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">changed</a> its transgender athlete policy to “limit competition in women’s sports to student-athletes assigned female at birth only.”
However, the Trump administration continues to pressure several blue states that still allow trans-identifying males in women&#8217;s sports.
Last week, the Department of Education <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/department-of-education-says-california-violated-title-ix-threatens-legal-action">announced</a> that California was officially in violation of Title IX because the state allows men to compete in women’s sports. The administration gave California 10 days to comply or face losing federal funds.

UPenn Agrees To Strip Medals From Lia Thomas As Part Of Sweeping White House Deal

White House Forces UPenn To Strip Lia Thomas' Medals He Won On Women's Team

Riley Gaines, the former collegiate swimmer who rose to fame advocating to protect women&#8217;s sports and spaces from transgender-identifying males, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DLPoOftgYJx/?hl=en">dropped</a> the first installment of her new clothing collection on Monday, the 53rd anniversary of Title IX. 
Gaines teamed up with XX-XY Athletics for a &#8220;Be Bold&#8221; collaboration intended to &#8220;honor the past and defend the future,&#8221; featuring clothing emblazoned with &#8220;Title IX,&#8221; along with messages like &#8220;Save Women&#8217;s Sports.&#8221;
According to XX-XY’s <a href="https://www.xx-xyathletics.com/pages/riley-collaboration">webpage</a>, &#8220;The collaboration with Riley Gaines and Title IX represents a powerful stand for protecting women’s sports as they were meant to be—fair, female and grounded in truth.&#8221;
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Gaines marked the collaboration&#8217;s launch and the anniversary of Title IX with an <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/riley-gaines-title-ix-meant-protect-women-not-erase-us">opinion piece</a> for Fox News, writing, &#8220;Title IX was written to protect women based on biological sex—not self-identified gender. To lose that foundational truth is to lose the heart of the law itself.&#8221;
&#8220;And why does that matter?&#8221; she went on to ask. &#8220;Because growth in sports is about more than medals. It’s about pushing ourselves mentally and physically, developing character, working hard, failing with grace, and winning with integrity. Sports are the training ground for life. And if we allow Title IX to be redefined, we risk losing not just championships—but the next generation of women leaders.&#8221;
Gaines noted how public opinion on transgender athletes has shifted recently and believes the new clothing collection will encourage people to proudly express their principles. 
&#8220;Three years ago it was not popular to say that men and women are different,&#8221; she said. &#8220;But now, having a brand that proclaims it proudly just gives people the courage, the boldness, the bravery to say what everyone already knows to be true.&#8221;
Gaines began collaborating with XX-XY Athletics when it launched in March 2024. The company was founded by Jennifer Sey, an ex-gymnast opposed to transgender-identifying men competing in women’s sports. 
Sey, who got into the textile and brand management business working for Levi Strauss &amp; Co., <a href="https://jennifersey.substack.com/p/the-why-behind-xx-xy-athletics">decided to found XX-XY</a> in response to clothing companies like Nike and Lululemon embracing pro-transgender marketing collaborations with social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney, a biological male who identifies as a woman, and Nikki Hiltz, a biological female who identifies as &#8220;non-binary.&#8221;
Gaines noted that, under the leadership of President Donald Trump, &#8220;The Department of Justice and the Department of Education have taken bold steps to restore Title IX to its original intent.&#8221;
She has expressed her dissatisfaction with previous <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/grotesque-betrayal-of-students-critics-blast-bidens-new-title-ix-regulations-championing-gender-identity?author=Hank+Berrien&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=85&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=%E2%80%98Grotesque+%E2%80%A6+Betrayal+Of+Students%E2%80%99%3A+Critics+Blast+Biden%E2%80%99s+New+Title+IX+Regulations+Championing+%E2%80%98Gender+Identity%E2%80%99">administrations&#8217; reinterpretation</a> of the legislation.
&#8220;Under the Obama and Biden administrations, this landmark civil rights law was gutted in the name of &#8220;inclusion,&#8221; Gaines said. &#8220;Democrats redefined Title IX to accommodate radical gender ideology, allowing men who identify as women to compete in women’s sports, access women’s locker rooms and displace the very people Title IX was meant to protect.&#8221;
Gaines hopes her new clothing collab will inspire others to protect women&#8217;s sports.
&#8220;Title IX opened the doors for women in sport—and we’re not giving that up. Be bold, wear your values, and have faith and courage for the girls who need us to be strong for them. This collection is for real athletes who love America.&#8221;

Riley Gaines Unveils ‘Be Bold’ Clothing Collab To Defend Women’s Sports, Honor Title IX Legacy

Business

clothing

Olympic gymnast Simone Biles appears to have deleted her X account, following massive backlash for her bizarre attack on women&#8217;s rights advocate Riley Gaines and the promotion of men in female sports.
When you search @Simone_Biles, X users are now directed to a message that reads &#8220;This account doesn&#8217;t exist,&#8221; instead of Biles&#8217; feed.
<div id="attachment_938147" style="width: 552px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-938147" class="wp-image-938147 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-23-at-10.40.50-AM-542x576.png" alt="" width="542" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-23-at-10.40.50-AM-542x576.png 542w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-23-at-10.40.50-AM-282x300.png 282w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-23-at-10.40.50-AM-768x817.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-23-at-10.40.50-AM.png 1164w" sizes="(max-width: 542px) 100vw, 542px" />Screenshot: X</div>
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/simone-biles-defends-boys-in-girls-sports-picks-the-wrong-day-to-fight-with-riley-gaines?author=Virginia+Kruta&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Simone+Biles+Defends+Boys+In+Girls%E2%80%99+Sports%2C+Picks+The+Wrong+Day+To+Fight+With+Riley+Gaines" target="_blank" rel="noopener">highlighted by The Daily Wire</a>, Biles earlier this month suggested Gaines, a podcast host for Outkick, is the size of a man while attempting to boost “trans” athletes.
“You’re truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race,&#8221; Biles said to Gaines, for highlighting the inequality of allowing males to participate in female sports. &#8220;Straight up sore loser.&#8221;
Gaines did not lose to Lia Thomas, a man who competed in women&#8217;s collegiate swimming. She tied against the male and then was pushed to the side for a photoshoot so the NCAA could apparently highlight Thomas. Gaines has since become a fierce advocate for girls and women&#8217;s spaces and sports.
“Bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male,” Biles said to Gaines.
The gymnast was hit with fierce backlash over the posts and she eventually apologized. Gaines accepted the apology, writing online, “I accept Simone’s apology for the personal attacks including the ones where she body-shamed me. I know she knows what this feels like. She’s still the greatest female gymnast of all time.&#8221; 
Gaines on Monday reacted to Biles&#8217; account being terminated. In a post on X, she noted that Biles had &#8220;an incredibly unpopular and morally indefensible take,&#8221; got &#8220;rightfully ridiculed for it,&#8221; issued &#8220;a groveling public apology after unrelenting backlash,&#8221; and then deleted her account &#8220;to pretend it never happened.&#8221;
&#8220;Sad to see such a phenom go down like this,&#8221; Gaines added.
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&#8211; has an incredibly unpopular and morally indefensible take 
&#8211; gets rightfully ridiculed for it 
&#8211; issues a groveling public apology after unrelenting backlash 
&#8211; deletes account to pretend it never happened
Sad to see such a phenom go down like this <a href="https://t.co/AiYir3kRG5">https://t.co/AiYir3kRG5</a>
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_/status/1936976528522522662?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 23, 2025</a></blockquote>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/leftists-turn-on-simone-biles-over-riley-gaines-apology-no-mercy-for-traitors?author=Virginia+Kruta&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Leftists+Turn+On+Simone+Biles+Over+Riley+Gaines+Apology%3A+‘No+Mercy+For+Traitors’" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Leftists Turn On Simone Biles Over Riley Gaines Apology: ‘No Mercy For Traitors’</a>

Simone Biles

Simone Biles Deletes X Account After Clashing With Riley Gaines Over Girls’ Sports

Simone Biles Deletes X Account After Humiliating Posts Attacking Riley Gaines, Girls Sports

Celebrities

Social Media

U.S.

Former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines announced on Saturday that she and her husband Louis Barker were expecting their first child — a girl — due in September.
Gaines shared a photo of herself standing with Barker and one of her horses as she held up an ultrasound photo of the baby. &#8220;Surprise! Baby GIRL coming in September,&#8221; she posted, adding several baby-themed emojis. &#8220;God is so good all the time.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Surprise! Baby GIRL coming in September.🤰🏼🩷🍼👶🏼
God is so good all the time. <a href="https://t.co/sPHphLmF6M">pic.twitter.com/sPHphLmF6M</a>
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_/status/1934100085312528754?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 15, 2025</a></blockquote>
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A fierce advocate for young girls and women — particularly in athletics — Gaines said she believed it was &#8220;providential&#8221; that she&#8217;d soon be bringing a young girl into the world.
&#8220;There&#8217;s something so special and providential about having a little girl,&#8221; Gaines said. &#8220;She&#8217;s everything I&#8217;ve been fighting for &amp; the little girl we&#8217;ve prayed over for years 🩷 praise God!&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
There&#8217;s something so special and providential about having a little girl.
She&#8217;s everything I&#8217;ve been fighting for &amp; the little girl we&#8217;ve prayed over for years 🩷 praise God! <a href="https://t.co/nU2Mcecwc0">https://t.co/nU2Mcecwc0</a>
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_/status/1934105972601139699?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 15, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Gaines spoke about the pregnancy — and her daughter — during her appearance at the Young Women&#8217;s Leadership Summit as well.
&#8220;I feel this baby, this young girl kicking around in my stomach when I’m lying down to sleep at night. I see the baby’s tiny little hands, her tiny little feet on the ultrasound. I listen to her heartbeat ever since that first eight-week appointment,&#8221; she said. &#8220;And guess what? It&#8217;s just like yours and it&#8217;s just like mine.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Riley_Gaines_</a> humanizes her unborn baby after announcing she’s pregnant
“I feel this baby, this young girl kicking around in my stomach when I’m lying down to sleep at night. I see the baby’s tiny little hands, her tiny little feet on the ultrasound. I listen to her heartbeat” <a href="https://t.co/uYU4BNXcju">pic.twitter.com/uYU4BNXcju</a>
— Anna Lulis (@annamlulis) <a href="https://twitter.com/annamlulis/status/1934008355686613267?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 14, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Celebrities Visit SiriusXM – May 20, 2024

Riley Gaines Announces She’s Having A Baby Girl: ‘Everything I’ve Been Fighting For’

Parenting

Lefitsts quickly turned on Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, calling her &#8220;transphobic&#8221; and a &#8220;traitor&#8221; after she apologized for several posts attacking — and attempting to body-shame — former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines.
Biles issued the apology after a tense back-and-forth during which she&#8217;d called Gaines a &#8220;bully&#8221; and insinuated that she looked masculine over the Outkick host&#8217;s (&#8220;Gaines for Girls&#8221;) vocal opposition to trans-identifying men competing in women&#8217;s sports. And while Gaines was quick to accept Biles&#8217; apology, leftists on social media saw the move as treason — and said so.
On X, the @babybeginner account tracked some of the attacks on the left-leaning social media platform BlueSky and shared them in a thread on X, prefacing it with the comment, &#8220;I said earlier that I thought Simone Biles should be given some grace after apologizing to Riley Gaines. I said that she was going to get a lot of guff from the activists.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I said earlier that I thought Simone Biles should be given some grace after apologizing to Riley Gaines. I said that she was going to get a lot of guff from the activists.
Thread.
First here was the apology. <a href="https://t.co/u5AxehlrkO">pic.twitter.com/u5AxehlrkO</a>
— Jennifer 🟥🔴🧙‍♀️🦉🐈‍⬛ 🦖 (@babybeginner) <a href="https://twitter.com/babybeginner/status/1932700174230446354?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;They are not taking it well,&#8221; she said, sharing a screenshot of a post that read, &#8220;What&#8217;s shameful is Biles apologizing to the fascist monster after correctly and righteously attacking the fascist monster. There should be no apologies for fighting bigotry other than the bigot begging for mercy, and us not listening. No pity for hateful bigots. No mercy for traitors.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I’ll just leave this here. 3/ <a href="https://t.co/qrWrUFvJdv">pic.twitter.com/qrWrUFvJdv</a>
— Jennifer 🟥🔴🧙‍♀️🦉🐈‍⬛ 🦖 (@babybeginner) <a href="https://twitter.com/babybeginner/status/1932700321119084551?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;I&#8217;ll just leave this here,&#8221; she captioned the next — which read, &#8220;Simone Biles apologizing to that transphobe is why I can&#8217;t root for all black people &#8230;&#8221;
&#8220;It appears Simone did not heed my advice of &#8216;put down the phone and listen to the dolls,&#8217; something we could all do a bit more of,&#8221; another screenshot read.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
They are not taking it well over there. 5/ <a href="https://t.co/B4KCX2jhdE">pic.twitter.com/B4KCX2jhdE</a>
— Jennifer 🟥🔴🧙‍♀️🦉🐈‍⬛ 🦖 (@babybeginner) <a href="https://twitter.com/babybeginner/status/1932700346574311624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;They are not taking it well over there,&#8221; @babybeginner commented as the account shared another post that read, &#8220;God f***ing d**n it. So Simone Biles has now apologized to Riley Gaines while still throwing trans people directly under the bus. Go f*** yourself, Simone Biles. You are both transphobic AND you&#8217;re apologizing to a woman who has made her entire career off of trying to kill trans people.&#8221;
The last screenshot showed a post referring to Biles as an &#8220;anti-trans f***ing piece of s**t.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Riley accepted her apology. Graciously.
Hopefully, Simone is on her way to peaking. We all have to start somewhere. It’s hard for anyone to face all of that. I’d rather she learns there is no way to be “in the middle”. Sports are either fair to girls or not.
— Jennifer 🟥🔴🧙‍♀️🦉🐈‍⬛ 🦖 (@babybeginner) <a href="https://twitter.com/babybeginner/status/1932700358502912325?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Riley accepted her apology. Graciously,&#8221; @babybeginner concluded their thread. &#8220;Hopefully, Simone is on her way to peaking. We all have to start somewhere. It’s hard for anyone to face all of that. I’d rather she learns there is no way to be in the middle.&#8217; Sports are either fair to girls or not.&#8221;
&#8220;I accept Simone’s apology for the personal attacks including the ones where she body-shamed me. I know she knows what this feels like. She’s still the greatest female gymnast of all time,&#8221; Gaines said at the time, challenging Biles to use her platform to support female athletes.

Simone Biles, Riley Gaines

Leftists Turn On Simone Biles Over Riley Gaines Apology: ‘No Mercy For Traitors’

Activists Turn On Simone Biles Over Riley Gaines Apology: 'No Mercy For Traitors'

There are few institutions in this country that have disgraced themselves more thoroughly in recent days than the little-known Champlin Park High School in Champlin, Minnesota. This is the school that just won the Class 4A Minnesota Girls&#8217; State softball championship by fielding a male as their star pitcher in every single game.
This male pitcher, a 17-year-old junior named Charlie &#8220;Marissa&#8221; Rothenberger, pitched all 21 innings across three games of the girls&#8217; championship tournament (because they play 7-inning games in softball). And what do you know? Champlin Park won all three games. Rothenberger capped off his performance by throwing a complete-game shut-out, allowing only three hits in the process. And that&#8217;s just the championship round. He also pitched a complete-game shutout in the quarterfinals. Overall, in the entire postseason, Rothenberger allowed only two runs in 35 innings.
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And that’ll do it &#8211; Champlin Park wins the Class 4A Minnesota state softball championship, beating Bloomington Jefferson 6-0.
Marissa Rothenberger pitched a complete-game shutout and gave up only 3 hits. <a href="https://t.co/4uS7aSejqS">pic.twitter.com/4uS7aSejqS</a>
&mdash; Amber Harding Snyder (@TheAmberHarding) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheAmberHarding/status/1931016097718820893?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Credit: Amber Harding Snyder
Everyone involved in this farce — from the school district to the coaches to the parents to the athlete himself — should be barred from any kind of competitive activity for the rest of their lives. They should face more serious consequences, which may indeed be coming. (The school district has already been sued). But at the moment, like most cheaters, these people seem to have convinced themselves that they did nothing wrong.
In interviews, Rothenberger and his coach have suggested that they&#8217;re simply better competitors than their opponents. They managed to vary their pitch types and pitch speeds, and their opponents just didn&#8217;t measure up. Here&#8217;s an interview from last season to give you an idea:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Champlin Park Softball Wins 15th Straight With 2-1 Victory Over Chaska" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3X1tR6Kw8G8?start=81&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
&nbsp;
Watching this coach speak, any sane person has to fight to suppress their vomit reflex. Imagine celebrating your sports acumen, and acting like you&#8217;re some incredible coach with an incredible team, when you have a boy pitching every single one of your games in a girls&#8217; softball league. The gall that&#8217;s required to stand there, with a straight face, as you cheat in the most flagrant way imaginable — while pretending everything is completely normal — is actually hard to comprehend. &#8220;Pathetic&#8221; does not begin to describe it. And of course, the parents who allow this man to coach their daughters, as he teaches them how to cheat, are just as culpable. Everything about this story is revolting.
And the school district knows that. So does the league. That&#8217;s why they&#8217;ve locked down their social media posts, so that no one can reply to them. Here&#8217;s what the Minnesota State High School League <a href="https://x.com/MSHSL/status/1931023458311282993">posted</a>, before locking the comments: &#8220;Meet Champlin Park, the Class 4A Softball State Champion for 2025.&#8221; And then they attach a team picture, including the boy who dominated the competition.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mws-ep-1612-member-exclusive?elementPosition=1&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h3>
Riley Gaines noticed the league&#8217;s decision to censor replies. And to point out the league&#8217;s cowardice, <a href="https://x.com/Riley_Gaines_/status/1931057465887728023">she wrote</a>: 
<blockquote>Comments off lol. To be expected when your star player is a boy.</blockquote>
As we discussed earlier this week, Gaines&#8217; post sent Simone Biles, the Olympic gymnast, into a frenzy. She accused Gaines of &#8220;bullying&#8221; the trans-identifying athlete. Biles <a href="https://x.com/Simone_Biles/status/1931129527679308054">also wrote</a>: 
<blockquote>You’re truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser. You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive OR creating a new avenue where trans feel safe in sports. Maybe a transgender category IN ALL sports!!</blockquote>
And then for good measure, Biles followed up <a href="https://x.com/Simone_Biles/status/1931130395728498927">by writing</a>: 
<blockquote>bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male.</blockquote>
The other day, we talked about all of the reasons why this rant was highly ironic (especially since Simone Biles isn&#8217;t exactly known for her sportsmanship, or for her feminine appearance). We also discussed why her idea of a &#8220;trans-only league&#8221; is idiotic for about a million reasons. For one thing, there wouldn&#8217;t be enough players, nor would anyone want to watch them play.
Additionally, you&#8217;d have to decide how to classify the non-binaries and the demisexuals and the 50,000 other genders. Do they play with trans men or trans women? Do we need a separate league for every gender? Things could get pretty complicated, especially when the trans furries show up and refuse to wear the standard uniforms. And of course, on top of all of these problems, a &#8220;trans-only league&#8221; makes no sense because the current system — of dividing athletes based on biological reality and not fantasy — works perfectly fine.
So those are just a few problems with Simone Biles&#8217; tweets. Additionally, a few people also pointed out that Simone Biles&#8217; position was also hypocritical, because back in 2017, she wrote <a href="https://x.com/Simone_Biles/status/918328165478666240">on Twitter</a>: 
<blockquote>good thing guys don&#8217;t compete against girls or he&#8217;d take all the gold medals !!</blockquote>
Presumably, that post was written before Simone Biles had lost her mind. But in 2025, Simone Biles, as with so many other prominent public figures, is completely subservient to Leftist ideology. And more than that, she&#8217;s vindictive and openly hostile towards anyone who expresses a contrary position — even if it&#8217;s the position that most Americans hold, and the one that happens to correspond with reality.
Here&#8217;s what elevates this story beyond a typical social media spat. Five years ago, for these posts attacking Riley Gaines, Simone Biles would&#8217;ve received unrelenting praise from every organ of the Left. The media would be asking her how she managed to be so brave in the face of Riley Gaines&#8217; fascism. Activist groups would be clamoring to invite her to speaking engagements. Every podcast would be elevating her as a kind of trans messiah. And then they would&#8217;ve had Riley Gaines banned from the Internet, of course. That&#8217;s how things used to work. In 2020, to give just one of many examples, the comedian Graham Linehan was permanently banned from Twitter for tweeting, &#8220;men aren&#8217;t women tho.&#8221; That&#8217;s all it took five years ago. You&#8217;d get dogpiled and permanently censored for stating the truth about human biology.
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But that&#8217;s not what happens anymore. Very few prominent people came out to defend Simone Biles after her post. Instead, she was excoriated by almost everyone. The backlash was so significant that, just a few days after the initial posts, Simone Biles put out a lengthy statement apologizing to Riley Gaines. 
Here&#8217;s what <a href="https://x.com/Simone_Biles/status/1932470954610901259">she posted</a>:
<blockquote>I wanted to follow up from my last tweets. I’ve always believed competitive equity &amp; inclusivity are both essential in sport. The current system doesn’t adequately balance these important principles, which often leads to frustration and heated exchanges, and it didn’t help for me to get personal with Riley, which I apologize for.</blockquote>
The statement continues for a bit, but it&#8217;s worth taking a second to think about the words &#8220;competitive equity,&#8221; because it&#8217;s a real triumph of word salad. What exactly is &#8220;competitive equity?&#8221; Of course, when Leftists say &#8220;equity,&#8221; we know what they mean. They mean allowing certain demographics — like self-identifying trans people — to gain advantages over others. But that&#8217;s fundamentally incompatible with the idea of competition. The whole point of equity is to eliminate competition, so that the Left&#8217;s preferred groups win.
But if you can make it past the oxymoron, Simone Biles does get around to apologizing. And then she <a href="https://x.com/Simone_Biles/status/1932470954610901259">writes this</a>:
<blockquote>These are sensitive, complicated issues that I truly don’t have the answers or solutions to, but I believe it starts with empathy and respect. I was not advocating for policies that compromise fairness in women’s sports. My objection is to be singling out children for public scrutiny in ways that feel personal and harmful. Individual athletes—especially kids—should never be the focus of criticism of a flawed system they have no control over. I believe sports organizations have a responsibility to come up with rules supporting inclusion while maintaining fair competition. We all want a future for sport that is fair, inclusive, and respectful. Xoxo Simone.</blockquote>
As far as apologies go, this one obviously should&#8217;ve gone much further. She should&#8217;ve dropped the word salad and stated that boys don&#8217;t belong in girls&#8217; sports, period. And many conservatives are pointing out that her statement sounds phony, like it was crafted by a PR agency or an AI program. They don&#8217;t believe that it&#8217;s sincere. And they&#8217;re right about all of that, of course.
But they&#8217;re also missing the point. The fact that a very famous and popular public figure felt the need to apologize and issue a PR statement after tweeting in support of the trans agenda is a clear sign of a very significant sea change in our culture. It&#8217;s not really important that the statement was insincere or incomplete. What&#8217;s important is that this series of events — any kind of retreat by Simone Biles in this scenario — would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.
It&#8217;s yet another sign of just how thoroughly the Right has won on the issue of gender ideology. If this had happened in, say, 2021, there would have been a whole army of public figures circling the wagons around Simone Biles. That didn&#8217;t happen this time. And that&#8217;s particularly notable because it&#8217;s supposedly &#8220;Pride Month.&#8221; Remember Pride Month? This is supposed to be the time of year when trans activists become even more unhinged and hostile than they normally are. They&#8217;re supposed to be emboldened. They&#8217;re supposed to loudly shut down people like Riley Gaines. They&#8217;re supposed to dominate the conversation, so that no one is allowed to point out that a male just won a girls&#8217; softball tournament.
But no one&#8217;s talking about Pride Month anymore. LGBT activists are too demoralized and discredited to &#8220;celebrate&#8221; at the moment. That&#8217;s the same reason they&#8217;re not defending Simone Biles. It&#8217;s why she was forced to apologize. And it&#8217;s why the Minnesota high school softball league had to shut down its social media feeds. 
Every single one of these liars is aware of the fact that they&#8217;ve lost most of their public support. Yes, technically speaking, Champlin Park High School was named the winner of the state girls&#8217; softball championship. But, as you watch the players and the coaches gloat, it&#8217;s hard not to be reminded of all the other frauds throughout history who simply took things too far, too quickly. Pathetic institutions like Champlin Park High School and the Minnesota State Softball League, along with cowardly mouthpieces like Simone Biles, no longer have the cultural power they had just a few years ago. And with this latest apology — even if it was generated by a PR firm using ChatGPT — it&#8217;s evident that Simone Biles and the rest of the LGBT cult are slowly coming around to the reality of their own irrelevance.

2025 Laureus World Sport Awards Madrid – Winners Walk

The LGBT Movement Is Collapsing, And Simone Biles’ Apology Proves It

gender ideology

LGBT

Matt Walsh

Opinion

Sports

For the past week, Americans have been glued to an ongoing social media exchange between Olympic legend Simone Biles and former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines.
The confrontation began when Gaines shared a photo of a Minnesota high school girls&#8217; softball championship team whose star player was reportedly a boy, prompting Biles to attack Gaines on social media, calling her &#8220;truly sick&#8221; and a &#8220;sore loser&#8221; who was campaigning against transgender athletes simply because she had lost a race.
Gaines fired back, “If Simone’s inclusive dream came true, she would have zero Olympic medals and no one would even know who she is.”
The thread rocketed across timelines, not only because it was fiery, but because it issued a referendum on manhood. It asked every male coach, father, and teammate: Are you strong enough to sit this one out so women can compete, or will you weaponize your strength to win medals never meant for you?
In a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-the-left-hijacked-masculinity-and-why-thats-bad-for-society?author=Gates+Garcia&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=How+The+Left+Hijacked+Masculinity+%E2%80%94+And+Why+That%E2%80%99s+Bad+For+Society" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent piece</a> for The Daily Wire, I wrote about the left’s slow, hostile co-opting of the word “masculinity.” But it’s not enough to identify what went wrong. In order to help save American men — and American society — we need to ask ourselves: what should men get right?
The Biles-Gaines saga gives us an opportunity to answer that question.
Riley Gaines has fought valiantly to keep men out of women’s sports, as have many other brave female athletes. But this saga should cause all American men to ask themselves: Where were the men in this situation? Where were the fathers telling their sons, “However you identify, you may not line up in the girls’ starting blocks,” or telling their daughters, “If anyone tries to silence your voice, Dad’s voice will echo louder”?
Perhaps the men were on the sidelines because for years, feminists and the left have told them that being aggressive in defense of what was right was “toxic.” Maybe they were worried that speaking out would make them seem dangerous — one of the worst things they can do.
This is a fundamental misunderstanding of what it means to be a man. True masculinity is a form of strength that heals instead of harms — dangerous on purpose, but disciplined by love.
Healthy masculinity begins with a posture, not a press release — a posture that leans into risk so others can rest easy. Walk into any volunteer fire station at 3:00 a.m. and you’ll find fathers who left warm beds to chase a propane smell no one else noticed, just in case. They aren’t reckless —  they’re responsible. They understand what G.K. Chesterton meant when he <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/94304-the-true-soldier-fights-not-because-he-hates-what-is" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>, “The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.”
Translation: Real manhood is the antidote to cultural decay, not its cause. Or, as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/crain-and-company" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Crain &amp; Co. </a>co-host David Cone said recently on my podcast, <a href="https://wethepeoplemedia.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">We The People</a>, “Toxic masculinity is a contradiction of terms. You can’t have the modifier of a word be the antithesis of the word.”
True masculinity can never be toxic, because it’s covenantal: it binds itself to duties no government can assign and no ideology can erase. Scripture sketches the outline — husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the Church — and history fills in the colors, from St. Joseph guiding Mary into exile to Sgt. William Carney grabbing the colors at Fort Wagner and refusing to let them fall. Chesterton called it “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Chesterton-Romance-Orthodoxy-Making-1874-1908/dp/0199582017" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Romance of Orthodoxy</a>” — the adventure of guarding what is good. That romance includes a listening ear. As psychologist Jordan Peterson notes, “a harmless man is not a good man. A good man is a very, very dangerous man who has that under voluntary control.”
So, how do we ensure that men understand and inhabit this balance? We start at home.
A 2024 <a href="https://bmcpsychology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40359-024-02182-x" target="_blank" rel="noopener">meta-analysis in BMC Psychology</a> found that children with engaged fathers show higher emotional resilience and academic grit. Yet engagement means more than hugs. It means clearly explaining to children the difference between right and wrong, and raising them to do what’s right. And of course, it means boldly, unapologetically modeling what choosing the right looks like.
When dads speak with that mix of empathy and iron, cultural confusion suddenly looks more like noise than destiny.
Sons who see their dads get up to feed a baby brother or sister so mom can sleep will grow up to be teenagers who step between a bully and a fellow classmate, and then men who shovel their widowed neighbor’s driveway without boasting about it on Instagram. Or perhaps even men who fight to protect women&#8217;s sports.
Nothing can replace fathers, but they’re not the only ones who can inculcate real masculinity in young men. A high school athletic director can set policy that preserves female divisions without waiting on Congress. A pastor can preach Ephesians 5 (“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the Church…) and then host a father-daughter self-defense night in the fellowship hall. Each act is a brick in a wall that tells our daughters, you’re safe here.
Notice what’s missing from that blueprint: self-flagellation. True masculinity doesn’t apologize for being strong; it apologizes for being selfish. It’s the difference between a freight train hauling relief supplies through the night and one that plows through a residential crossing because the engineer craves a thrill. Conservatives should celebrate the power while condemning the derailment. The Centre for Male Psychology calls this “<a href="https://www.centreformalepsychology.com/male-psychology-magazine-listings/the-provider-role-indicates-that-masculinity-is-prosocial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pro-social masculinity</a>,” but your grandpa called it being a gentleman.
The same culture that coined “toxic masculinity” is starving for the genuine article. Simone Biles has earned her medals, and Riley Gaines has earned her scars. Now the question is, will American men earn back their reputation as protectors?
If they do — if we do — the next generation of daughters won’t need to tweet for fairness. They’ll be too busy celebrating it on a podium their fathers kept level.
Gates Garcia is the host of the YouTube show and podcast &#8220;We The People.&#8221; Follow him on IG and X @GatesGarciaFL
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

What The Riley Gaines-Simone Biles Skirmish Reveals About The Crisis Of Masculinity

Crain and Company

Fathers

Masculinity

Women Sports

Simone Biles apologized to Riley Gaines on Tuesday for their online spat over trans-identifying males in women&#8217;s sports, the Olympic gymnast adding that she believes the current women&#8217;s sports system is &#8220;flawed.&#8221;
The two athletes clashed on Friday when Biles attacked Gaines seemingly out of the blue, calling the former University of Kentucky swimmer a &#8220;sore loser&#8221; and telling her to &#8220;bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male.&#8221;
&#8220;I wanted to follow up from my last tweets,&#8221; Biles posted Tuesday on X. &#8220;I’ve always believed competitive equity &amp; inclusivity are both essential in sport. The current system doesn’t adequately balance these important principles, which often leads to frustration and heated exchanges, and it didn’t help for me to get personal with Riley, which I apologize for.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I wanted to follow up from my last tweets. I’ve always believed competitive equity &amp; inclusivity are both essential in sport. The current system doesn’t adequately balance these important principles, which often leads to frustration and heated exchanges, and it didn’t help for me…
&mdash; Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) <a href="https://twitter.com/Simone_Biles/status/1932470954610901259?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 10, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This is so disappointing. My take is the least controversial take on the planet. 
Simone Biles being a male-apologist at the expense of young girls’ dreams? Didn’t have that on my bingo card.
Maybe she could compete in pommel horse and rings in 2028. <a href="https://t.co/Ptn35pyEvh">https://t.co/Ptn35pyEvh</a>
&mdash; Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_/status/1931134784241119360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Biles claimed she did not mean to push policies that &#8220;compromise fairness&#8221; in women’s sports.
&#8220;These are sensitive, complicated issues that I truly don’t have the answers or solutions to, but I believe it starts with empathy and respect. I was not advocating for policies that compromise fairness in women’s sports,&#8221; Biles said. &#8220;My objection is to be singling out children for public scrutiny in ways that feel personal and harmful. Individual athletes — especially kids — should never be the focus of criticism of a flawed system they have no control over.&#8221;
&#8220;I believe sports organizations have a responsibility to come up with rules supporting inclusion while maintaining fair competition. We all want a future for sport that is fair, inclusive, and respectful,&#8221; she said.
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Biles had initially responded to a post from Gaines last week criticizing a high school girls&#8217; softball team that won a state championship after the team&#8217;s trans-identifying male pitcher <a href="https://cbsaustin.com/news/nation-world/transgender-pitcher-leads-champlin-park-to-win-sparking-controversy-in-minnesota-sports" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pitched</a> five straight games in which he gave up just one run.
&#8220;Bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male,&#8221; Biles told Gaines.
The Olympian also posted, &#8220;You’re truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser,&#8221; adding that Gaines should be &#8220;uplifting the trans community.&#8221;
&#8220;But instead… You bully them… One things for sure is no one in sports is safe with you around!!!!!&#8221; Biles said.
Gaines responded, telling Biles her comments were &#8220;disappointing.&#8221;
&#8220;This is so disappointing. My take is the least controversial take on the planet. Simone Biles being a male-apologist at the expense of young girls’ dreams? Didn’t have that on my bingo card. Maybe she could compete in pommel horse and rings in 2028,&#8221; Gaines posted.
Gaines&#8217; 2022 tie with trans-identifying male swimmer Lia Thomas, after which Thomas was given the trophy, helped <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/04/04/swimmer-who-tied-lia-thomas-taken-aback-in-trophy-handling/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ignite</a> the battle to keep men out of women’s sports.
After Biles&#8217; apology on Tuesday, Gaines quickly responded.
&#8220;I accept Simone&#8217;s apology for the personal attacks including the ones where she body-shamed me. I know she knows what this feels like. She&#8217;s still the greatest female gymnast of all time,&#8221; Gaines posted on X.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I accept Simone&#39;s apology for the personal attacks including the ones where she body-shamed me. I know she knows what this feels like. She&#39;s still the greatest female gymnast of all time.
A couple of things. Sports ARE inclusive by nature. Anyone can and everyone SHOULD play… <a href="https://t.co/V8YbMvs3xf">https://t.co/V8YbMvs3xf</a>
&mdash; Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_/status/1932493510868906128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 10, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Gaines added that competition &#8220;by definition is exclusive.&#8221;
&#8220;To suggest that women and girls must be silent or ignore a boy who is PUBLICLY hurting or humiliating them is wrong,&#8221; Gaines said. &#8220;You can&#8217;t have any empathy and compassion for the girls if you&#8217;re ignoring when young men are harming or abusing them. I am not ashamed to be a voice for the voiceless.&#8221;
Gaines added that she agrees that the blame is on lawmakers and leaders, which she said is why she is suing the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and joined President Donald Trump when he signed an executive order on women&#8217;s sports.
&#8220;I didn&#8217;t see you there or championing this effort with your platform,&#8221; Gaines told Biles, adding that she welcomes Biles to the &#8220;fight to support fair sports and a future for female athletes. Little girls deserve the same shot to achieve that you had.&#8221;

Gymnastics – Artistic – Olympics: Day 4

‘I Apologize’: Simone Biles Backs Down In Riley Gaines Spat, Calls For ‘Fair Competition’

Gender

LGBTQ

Olympics

Transgender

Former NASCAR and IndyCar driver Danica Patrick said supporting men in women’s sports is “irrational” as she defended former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines in her spat with Olympic gymnast Simone Biles over trans-identifying athletes.
“This issue has a shelf life,” Patrick said in a social media post. “I truly believe common sense will prevail. But until then, I am grateful for people like Riley Gaines who are making sure no one gets away with it. Not to mention the fact that she actually lived it.”
The argument began over the weekend, when Biles attacked Gaines and voiced support for trans-identifying athletes. Gaines had recently criticized a trans-identifying man who led a Minnesota high school softball team to win a state championship.
“You’re truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race,” Biles said in a post on X. “Straight up sore loser. You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive OR creating a new avenue where trans feel safe in sports. Maybe a transgender category IN ALL sports!! But instead… You bully them… One things for sure is no one in sports is safe with you around!!!!!”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Riley_Gaines_</a> You’re truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser. You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive OR creating a new avenue where trans feel safe in sports. Maybe a transgender… <a href="https://t.co/pjpzuZ0AlO">https://t.co/pjpzuZ0AlO</a>
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) <a href="https://twitter.com/Simone_Biles/status/1931129527679308054?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
Biles later told Gaines to “bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male <a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Riley_Gaines_</a>
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) <a href="https://twitter.com/Simone_Biles/status/1931130395728498927?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
Gaines, who competed against trans-identifying man Lia Thomas, called Biles’ post “disappointing.”
“My take is the least controversial take on the planet,” Gaines said in an X post. “Simone Biles being a male-apologist at the expense of young girls’ dreams? Didn’t have that on my bingo card.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
This is so disappointing. My take is the least controversial take on the planet.
Simone Biles being a male-apologist at the expense of young girls’ dreams? Didn’t have that on my bingo card.
Maybe she could compete in pommel horse and rings in 2028. <a href="https://t.co/Ptn35pyEvh">https://t.co/Ptn35pyEvh</a>
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_/status/1931134784241119360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
Patrick also criticized supporters of trans-identifying athletes.
“Defending men in women’s sports is the woke mind virus and/or another issue that requires therapy,” Patrick said.
Patrick <a href="https://www.danicapatrick.com/racing/profile" target="_blank" rel="noopener">competed</a> against male drivers during her NASCAR and IndyCar careers and became the first woman to win an IndyCar race after her IndyCar Series Indy Japan 300 victory. Although she never won a NASCAR race, despite competing in seven seasons, she earned seven top-10 finishes, according to <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/female-nascar-drivers-challenges-competing-male-dominated-sport/story?id=82838424" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ABC News</a>.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=wisepops&amp;utm_campaign=dad&amp;utm_content=fathersdaygiftpopups" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gift Dad an All Access Membership. Use code DAD40 at checkout to save 40%!</a>
Studies differ on whether or not biological differences impact driving ability. A 2016 study of 35 male drivers and 25 female drivers <a href="https://www.jebmh.com/articles/effect-of-gender-difference-on-brake-reaction-time.pdf.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> men had a higher reaction time when braking, while a Michigan State University study from 2019 of six male drivers and six female drivers <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30925578/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> no significant physiological differences between sexes in racecar driving.
Patrick herself seems to believe there is a biological difference. In 2023, she said racecar driving is “masculine” by nature, according to Planet F1.
“​​You have to, you know, handle the car — not only just the car because that’s skill, but the mindset that it takes to be really good is something that’s not normal in a feminine mind, a female mind,” Patrick said.
After Biles attacked Gaines, one of the gymnast’s posts from October 2017 resurfaced and undermined Biles’ recent remarks, The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/2017-post-comes-back-to-haunt-simone-biles-a-truly-sick-bully-by-her-own-standard?author=Virginia+Kruta&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=2017+Post+Comes+Back+to+Haunt+Simone+Biles%3A+%E2%80%98A+Truly+Sick+Bully+By+Her+Own+Standard%E2%80%99" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
“ahhhh good thing guys don&#8217;t compete against girls or he&#8217;d take all the gold medals!!” Biles said in response to a post that has been deleted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
ahhhh good thing guys don&#8217;t compete against girls or he&#8217;d take all the gold medals !! 🥇 <a href="https://t.co/gto13RzC8Y">https://t.co/gto13RzC8Y</a>
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) <a href="https://twitter.com/Simone_Biles/status/918328165478666240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 12, 2017</a></blockquote>
Gaines highlighted Biles’ change of opinion.
“Oop don’t you hate it when your past self completely undermines your current nonsensical argument?” Gaines said. “How has 2025 Simone reconciled with the fact 2017 Simone was a &#8216;truly sick bully&#8217; by her own standard?”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Oop don’t you hate it when your past self completely undermines your current nonsensical argument?
How has 2025 Simone reconciled with the fact 2017 Simone was a &#8216;truly sick bully&#8217; by her own standard? <a href="https://t.co/aQjKuNSmMh">https://t.co/aQjKuNSmMh</a>
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_/status/1931706202913747115?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 8, 2025</a></blockquote>

Danica Patrick

Danica Patrick Backs Riley Gaines In Simone Biles Feud: ‘Common Sense Will Prevail’

NASCAR

President Donald Trump deploys the National Guard to quell chaos in Los Angeles, the Trump-Musk feud continues, and gymnast Simone Biles calls out Riley Gaines over her stance on men competing in women’s sports.
It’s Monday, June 9, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here:
 
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If you’d rather listen to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
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<h2>National Guard Deployed To L.A. To Control Anti-ICE Riots</h2>
<div id="attachment_930951" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-930951" class="size-large wp-image-930951" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-2218535156-864x576.jpg" alt="PARAMOUNT, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 7: A shopping cart is seen on fire as protesters shield themselves from flash bang grenades shot by the Sheriffs Department after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers made raids of illegal immigrants in Paramount, California, United States on June 7, 2025. (Photo by Jon Putman/Anadolu via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-2218535156-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-2218535156-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-2218535156-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-2218535156.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Jon Putman/Anadolu via Getty Images</div>
Topline: President Trump sends the National Guard to Los Angeles amid violent anti-ICE riots.
Chaos erupted over the weekend in the Los Angeles area as some anti-ICE protesters turned violent after false claims that ICE had conducted a “raid” on a Home Depot in the city of Paramount had circulated after a Home Depot in L.A. had been raided on Friday. To quell the riots, President Trump mobilized and deployed some 2000 members of the National Guard.
By Sunday, things spiraled even further out of control, with hordes of protesters blocking interstates, burning cars, and injuring law enforcement officers. In response, Northern Command said it was ready to send in 500 Marines to help keep the peace. But LA’s Democratic Mayor Karen Bass said federal authorities are making things worse – and that Trump is responsible for the widespread unrest.
“What we&#8217;re seeing in Los Angeles is chaos that is provoked by the administration,” Bass said. “When you raid Home Depot and workplaces, when you tear parents and children apart, and when you run armored caravans through our streets, you cause fear and you cause panic. And deploying federalized troops is a dangerous escalation… I call on all Angelenos to continue expressing your right, your anger, your outrage. But to do it peacefully.”
Dozens of people have been detained throughout the protests, and at least two law enforcement officers have been injured, according to a report from <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/national-guard-troops-los-angeles-immigration-protests/">CBS</a>.
“There were times when things were out of control in this situation and the local law enforcement didn&#8217;t have a total handle on what was going on,” Elex Michaelson, an anchor at FOX News&#8217;s L.A. affiliate, told The Daily Wire on Sunday. “My own colleague on Fox 11, Matthew Seedorf and his photographer, Sam Dubin, were out reporting in Paramount and their vehicle, their news vehicle was destroyed with people punching out the windows – spray-painting “F*** ICE” on it, slashing the tires, stealing stuff from their vehicle – as they were out doing their job. So that&#8217;s an example of criminals taking advantage of a situation and creating chaos.”
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<h2>Trump Vs Musk Part 2: Midterm Boogaloo</h2>
<div id="attachment_931111" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-931111" class="size-large wp-image-931111" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-2204569362-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-2204569362-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-2204569362-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-2204569362-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-2204569362.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />(Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)</div>
Topline: After their public falling out last week, Trump is warning Elon Musk to stay out of the midterm elections as the president pushes forward on the passage of his signature budget bill. 
Elon Musk, who once said he “loved Trump as much as a straight man can love another man,” continued to slam the president over the weekend. While he has deleted some of his most inflammatory remarks on X, including an allegation that Trump was covering up Jeffrey Epstein’s client list to protect himself, he has put out new statements that have drawn more attention to the rift. Musk tweeted Friday that he would “apologize profusely as soon as there is a full dump of the Epstein files.”
Trump responded by calling Musk “the man who has lost his mind” — according to a report from <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/06/politics/musk-alleged-drug-use-trump">CNN</a> the president asked his aides if the outburst could be related to alleged drug use on Musk’s part, although publicly he has said, “I don’t want to comment on his drug use. I don’t know.. [<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/us/elon-musk-drugs-children-trump.html">The New York Times report</a> on the subject] sounded very unfair.”
Apart from personal digs, Musk could pose a more substantial risk to Trump’s electoral prospects. Writing on X, the billionaire asked his followers if it was &#8220;time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle.&#8221; After his audience responded favorably, Musk said it was “fate” and that he would name it the “America Party.” Musk spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars during the 2024 election cycle, and third-party candidates with his backing could potentially act as spoilers in key races, jeopardizing the Republicans&#8217; narrow majority.
That has gotten Trump’s attention. Speaking to ABC News, the president said Elon will “have to pay very serious consequences” if he funds challenges against Republicans in 2026. 
Allies of both men have publicly and privately called on them to reconcile, but as of now, they remain at odds. President Trump said there was “no reason to” repair the relationship, which he “assumed” was over. However, stranger things have happened – Trump’s current vice president, JD Vance, was <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/jd-vance-once-compared-trump-hitler-now-they-are-running-mates-2024-07-15/">once</a> a “never Trumper” who compared the president to Adolf Hitler years before he became one of his supporters.
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<h2>Women&#8217;s Sports Spat Gets Personal</h2>
<div id="attachment_931109" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-931109" class="size-large wp-image-931109" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Sad-Biles-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Sad-Biles-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Sad-Biles-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Sad-Biles-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Sad-Biles-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Sad-Biles-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Sad-Biles-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Sad-Biles-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />(Photo by LOIC VENANCE/AFP via Getty Images)</div>
Topline: An online debate has erupted between Olympic gymnast Simone Biles and former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines over the question of transgender-identifying athletes competing in women’s sports.
The controversy began when Gaines, a vocal critic of transgender-identifying male athletes competing against women and girls, commented on a social media post from the Minnesota State High School League. The post celebrated Champlin Park High School’s girls’ softball state championship win. However, the team’s star pitcher is a boy who identifies as a girl – and he pitched a shutout in the 6-0 victory. Gaines noted that the team turned its comments off, posting on social media: “To be expected when your star player is a boy.”
Biles weighed in by calling Gaines “truly sick” and a “sore loser,” and she accused Gaines of bullying. But then, despite being known for supporting the “body positivity” movement, she mocked Gaines’ physique, telling Gaines to “bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male.” Gaines is 5’5&#8243;, around average height for a woman.
Interestingly, though, some X users dug up an old<a href="https://x.com/Simone_Biles/status/918328165478666240"> post</a> from Biles in which she acknowledged men’s innate physical advantages over women. In 2017, she wrote, “Good thing guys don&#8217;t compete against girls or he&#8217;d take all the gold medals!!” Gaines also noted Biles and other gymnasts suffered under Larry Nassar, suggesting that the same system that failed them then is now negatively impacting female athletes by putting them in vulnerable positions, like allowing men in their locker rooms.
Both women have received their fair share of support online. With the support for Gaines, there’s a building outcry now for brands like Athleta to drop Biles as an ambassador for female athletes. On the flip side, legacy media and many left-wing pundits voice their support for Biles. There were a number of op-eds, including one from USA Today, cheering her as a hero.
Politically, however, this issue puts Democrats between a rock and a hard place. Many of those fervent and vocal supporters, including celebrities like Biles, are deeply committed to gender ideology and allowing trans-identifying men into women’s sports and women’s spaces. The overwhelming majority disagree – a February 2025 New York Times/Ipsos poll, for example, found that about 80% of respondents believe biological males should not be allowed to compete in women’s sports, including 67% of Democrats and 64% of independents.

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