Former NCAA swimmer and women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines fired back at Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) this week after the progressive lawmaker mocked her athletic career, escalating a fiery back-and-forth that began over Gaines’ criticism of the Democratic Party’s policies.
The clash started when Gaines posted a photo of Ocasio-Cortez appearing at a rally alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, captioning it, “We’re being destroyed from within.”
Ocasio-Cortez responded on X with a sneering jab at Gaines’ athletic record: “Maybe if you channeled all this anger into swimming faster you wouldn’t have come in fifth.”
The congresswoman’s insult referenced Gaines’ performance in the 2022 NCAA women’s championships, where she tied for fifth place with transgender swimmer Lia Thomas. Thomas, who previously competed in the men’s division, ranked 462nd before transitioning and went on to win the 500-yard freestyle title—an event that created national debate over fairness in women’s sports.
Gaines, who has since become a leading voice opposing biological males competing in women’s athletics, wasted no time hitting back. “It’s always hilarious when they think they’ve landed a ‘gotcha’ by pointing out I was the 5th-fastest woman in the nation, yet they conveniently forget the mediocre man who ranked 462nd in the men’s division lol,” Gaines wrote. She then added, “Misogynistic dunce.”
The exchange didn’t stop there. During an appearance on Fox News’s The Ingraham Angle, Gaines issued an open challenge.
“I want to honestly challenge AOC to a debate,” Gaines said. “She can defend socialism. I will defend capitalism. She can defend removing God. I will defend embracing a biblical worldview. She can defend child sacrifice. I will defend the sanctity of life.”
“Any of the radical and sane democratic policies and platform that they stand for, I will debate the opposite. I’m challenging AOC to it here,” Gaines added.
Ocasio-Cortez, rather than accepting, doubled down with another insult, replying, “And I would like to challenge this person to get a real job.”
Gaines delivered one more sharp counterpunch on X, writing, “This is comical given it’s coming from someone whose own party shut down the government and left you technically… jobless.” She added, “I guess I’ll take that as a no (which is to be expected when your positions are indefensible on virtually every issue).”
Gaines, who hosts OutKick’s Gaines for Girls podcast, has turned her post-swimming career into a prominent platform for defending women’s sports. Her unapologetic tone and ability to go toe-to-toe with high-profile progressives like Ocasio-Cortez have made her a favorite online. The fiery exchange has since garnered millions of views on social media.
