Former UK swimmer, anti-trans sports advocate feuds with NY congresswoman
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Riley Gaines challenged Rep. Ocasio-Cortez to a debate after an online feud.
- Gaines proposed debates framing capitalism, religion and abortion against socialism.
- Gaines rose to prominence opposing transgender athletes after the 2022 NCAA meet.
Former University of Kentucky standout swimmer Riley Gaines challenged a prominent progressive U.S. representative to a debate this week amid an online feud.
The spat began Sunday with a social media post from Gaines, who, since her graduation from UK, has made a media career of opposing the inclusion of transgender women in women’s sports.
Gaines posted a photo of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor in New York City, at a recent rally, with the caption, “We’re being destroyed from within.”
Ocasio-Cortez responded by mocking Gaines’ fifth-place finish in a race at the 2022 NCAA swimming and diving championships, where she tied transgender woman Lia Thomas.
“Maybe if you channeled all this anger into swimming faster you wouldn’t have come in fifth,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X.
Gaines responded by calling Ocasio-Cortez a “misogynistic dunce” and noted a pattern of people making fun of her for placing fifth in an NCAA championship race. On Monday, she appeared on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” and challenged Ocasio-Cortez to a debate.
“She can defend socialism; I’ll defend capitalism. She can defend removing God; I’ll defend embracing a biblical worldview. She can defend child sacrifice; I’ll defend the sanctity of life,” Gaines said. “Any of the radical, insane Democratic policies, a platform that they stand for, I will debate the opposite.”
Ocasio-Cortez did not publicly accept or deny the challenge, instead telling Gaines to get a real job. Gaines responded by saying her job is being a mom after giving birth to her daughter, Margot, in late September.
“It’s the most important and rewarding job in the world,” Gaines wrote in a post on X. “I think if you had a baby girl like I do, you’d understand my positions a little better.”
Gaines is one of UK’s most decorated swimmers in program history. She swam for the Wildcats from 2019 to 2022 and was a 12-time All-American, four-time SEC champion and former SEC 200-yard butterfly record holder.
Gaines placed fifth in the 200-meter freestyle at the 2022 NCAA swimming and diving championships, tying Thomas, a former University of Pennsylvania swimmer. At that same meet, Thomas also became the first openly transgender athlete to win a national title, the women’s 500-meter freestyle.
After the 200-meter freestyle final, Gaines told The Daily Wire that Thomas was given the only fifth-place trophy for the event, and she was offered to pose with the sixth-place trophy on the podium.
Gaines has since said her issue was not about trophy presentation, but rather, “The message it sends to (women) … that we don’t matter,” she posted on social media in 2023.
Gaines has been a leading voice in the effort to ban transgender athletes from women’s sports. The topic has divided the U.S. in recent years, with critics arguing that transgender athletes have an advantage over cisgender women in competition.
More than two-dozen states have banned transgender girls from participating in girls high school sports, and organizations including the NCAA and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee banned transgender women from women’s sports this year to comply with an executive order from President Donald Trump.
Gaines has also remained active in Kentucky politics. In 2023, she campaigned with two Republican gubernatorial candidates: Kelly Craft during the primary election, and Daniel Cameron during his unsuccessful run against incumbent Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. She’s endorsed Rep. Andy Barr in his run for U.S. Senate in 2026.
