‘That is so incredibly degrading,’ Riley Gaines said
Former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines slammed Nike’s decision to made transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney a paid spokesperson.
Gaines appeared on OutKick’s “The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show” and joked that she has not been given an offer from Nike.
“And I don’t anticipate that happening. I don’t know if they can understand the mockery [Mulvaney’s deal] makes of women, especially the video of Dylan — I guess portraying what he thinks women look like when we work out — doing jumping jacks and doing different things. That is so incredibly degrading, and for Nike to take this stance, they can forget taking my money. And I’ve talked to a lot of female athletes who agree with exactly everything I just said.”
Riley Gaines (Fox News)
Gaines was recently “hit multiple times by a guy in a dress” at San Francisco State University, and she says “faux feminists” are “scared” to act after the incident.
“Well, to be totally frank, people are scared because look at what just happened to me for saying something as simple as men and women are different,” Gaines said. “That’s easy, right? That’s common sense, yet I was still ambushed. No one wants that to happen to them; no one wants to be labeled as transphobic.”
She also said campus police were “terrified to do their job,” as protestors believed they were only protecting Gaines because she is white.
“To which they pretty openly admitted they didn’t want to be accused of being racist,” she said. “These police were put in a position where they didn’t want to risk their jobs. They didn’t want to be seen as anything other than an ally to that community. And so, it did hinder their performance.”
Gaines recently criticized athletes like Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird for being on the side of biological males participating in females sports despite their work to put women’s sports in a positive light. In a string of tweets, she accused Rapinoe of “virtue signaling” and went at the pair further with OutKick.
Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird attend the 2022 Moet & Chandon Holiday Celebration at Lincoln Center on December 05, 2022 in New York City. (Taylor Hill/WireImage)
“Of course it’s ironic, but they want to be seen as inclusive and kind and accepting and welcoming and loving and all the things — which, of course, who doesn’t want to be seen as those things?” she said. “But — newsflash — it’s not inclusive to allow men to take a podium spot from a woman. It’s exclusive. And it’s not kind to allow a male equipped with male genitalia to change in a locker room with girls. That’s not kind. That’s not inclusive.”
Mulvaney recently partnered with Nike and Bud Light, both of which have been met with backlash, including from Caitlyn Jenner.
“As someone that grew up in awe of what Phil Knight did, it is a shame to see such an iconic American company go so woke! We can be inclusive but not at the expense of the mass majority of people, and have some decency while being inclusive. This is an outrage,” the 1976 Olympic gold medalist tweeted.
Caitlyn Jenner plays her shot from the first tee during the pro-am prior to the LIV Golf Invitational – Bedminster at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster on July 28, 2022 in Bedminster, New Jersey. (Chris Trotman/LIV Golf via Getty Images)
In a social media post Friday, Nike said they “welcome comments that contribute to a positive and constructive discussion: Be kind… Be inclusive… Encourage each other… Hate speech, bullying, or other behaviors that are not in the spirit of a diverse and inclusive community will be deleted.”
