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(from left) Conservative pundit Riley Gaines; U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY)
AOC had a short but scathing response after failed college swimmer Riley Gaines challenged her to a debate.
Instead of dedicating her life to attacking transgender people, conservative pundit Riley Gaines should "get a real job," Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says.
The Democratic representative from New York had a short but scathing response to Gaines after the failed college swimmer posted a picture of her and Bernie Sanders at a recent rally for New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. Gaines claimed in the post's caption that “we’re being destroyed from within," leading to Ocasio-Cortez's brutal response.
“Maybe if you channeled all this anger into swimming faster you wouldn’t have come in fifth," she wrote.
Gaines, an unsuccessful NCAA athlete and right-wing activist, has built her platform on opposing trans inclusion in sports after tying for fifth place with Lia Thomas, a trans woman, at the 2022 NCAA championships. Gaines is now a vice chair of the America First Policy Institute’s Athletes for America, and frequent mouthpiece for the Trump administration.
Fox News host Laura Ingraham asked Gaines for her response to Ocasio-Cortez on Monday's episode of The Ingraham Angle, prompting Gaines to admit "yes, I finished fifth" while still insisting Thomas' presence was unfair. She did not mention — and has never acknowledged to this day — the four cisgender women who beat both her and Thomas.
A comprehensive review of several studies on trans participation in sports under their gender identity found that trans athletes, post transition, are "more similar to their gender identity." It noted that both transgender and cisgender athletes show great variations in ability.
Gaines then challenged Ocasio-Cortez to a debate, saying, “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 insane Democratic policies and platform they stand for, I will debate the opposite. I’m challenging AOC to it here.”
In doing so, Gaines only opened the door for another devastating clapback. Responding to a clip of Gaines' challenge online, Ocasi-Cortez wrote, “And I would like to challenge this person to get a real job.”
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