Riley Gaines, a former NCAA swimmer who competed against transgender athlete Leah Thomas, visited the Republican National Convention on Tuesday and spoke to Fox News Digital about her message to New York Attorney General Letitia James and Democrats who claim to be the party of women’s rights.
Gaines, a guest of the New York Republican Party and former Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin, spoke to Fox News Digital outside the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wis., the day before James sued Nassau County Mayor Bruce Blakeman in New York over a new county law that bars biological males from participating in girls’ athletics in county-run parks and facilities.
“I wish I could say I was surprised by the Attorney General’s actions, but looking at her record, it doesn’t surprise me. She appears to be attacking anyone who holds an opinion that disagrees with the causes she and her party are pushing,” Gaines told Fox News Digital, thanking Blakeman.
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“It’s tough to be in one of the most populous counties and do what he did, but it’s common sense,” Gaines said outside the convention center. “This isn’t a battle between right and left. This is a humanitarian issue. The message that’s being sent by people like the New York attorney general is that girls don’t matter, our safety doesn’t matter, our privacy in sports and in locker rooms doesn’t matter, our equal opportunity doesn’t matter.”
Riley Gaines and Nassau County Mayor Bruce Blakeman attend the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Nassau County Executive Office)
James, who also led the New York prosecution of former President Trump’s business interests, filed the lawsuit against Blakeman on Monday, alleging that “Nassau County claims to support fairness while once again seeking to exclude transgender girls and women from participating in sporting events.”
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In a statement, the attorney general said that she and the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) have already succeeded in repealing Governor Blakeman’s “transphobic” executive order, and “now this discriminatory law must be repealed,” adding, “Here in New York, everyone has the right to be their true self without discrimination, and my office will always defend that right.”
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN: Former U.S. Congressman Lee Zeldin and athlete Riley Gaines outside the 2024 Republican National Convention at Fiserv Forum on July 16, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (J. Conrad Williams Jr./Newsday RM via Getty Images)
Democrats, including President Biden, are campaigning as the party of women’s rights and are aligned on the issue of abortion ahead of November following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. But Gaines argued that when it comes to transgender athletes competing in girls’ and women’s championships, the Republican Party is the party that best protects the well-being of women.
“The Democratic Party is far from being the party of women. They can’t even define what a woman is,” Gaines told Fox News Digital. “How can you claim to defend something that you can’t define? I’m here to get the simple message across that men and women are different, but that’s much broader than just from a sports perspective.”
University of Pennsylvania swimmer Leah Thomas and University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines react after finishing tied for fifth in the 200-meter freestyle final at the 2022 National Collegiate Swimming Association (NCAA) Swimming and Diving Championships on March 18, 2022 in Atlanta. (Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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“The Democrats are in complete denial of the truth,” Gaines argued. “The objective truth, the biological reality, the truth that in the nearly 250 years since we were founded as a nation we have never made any effort to understand: the truth is that we are men and women.”
Gaines said a year ago Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Sen. Robert DeSantis, who is running for president, voiced his support for Trump on Tuesday. DeSantis, who in January abandoned his 2024 presidential bid, also took to the stage at the party convention late Tuesday night to give his support for Trump, the newly-formulated Republican presidential nominee.
Former college swimmer Riley Gaines testified at a House subcommittee hearing on Dec. 5, 2023, focusing on the Biden administration’s proposed changes to Title IX rules. (Drew Ungerer/Getty Images)
“In November, I will be voting for Donald J. Trump, and I encourage every woman, every mother, every sister and every daughter to vote for Donald J. Trump,” Gaines told Fox News Digital. “There is only one party, only one candidate who will fight for sex-based rights, that will support sex-based protections — safety, privacy, equal opportunity — whether that’s in sports, prisons, domestic violence shelters, bathrooms, sororities, locker rooms and dorm rooms.”
Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed Resolution 165, which aims to block the Biden administration from implementing new Title IX protections that would overhaul the Education Amendments of 1972. The new interpretation would redefine the definition of sex discrimination to include gender identity.
“Two hundred and ten Republicans voted to uphold the original intent of Title IX and protect women and girls in sports,” Gaines said, blasting the 205 Democrats who voted against the resolution.
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“Every single father and mother with daughters, every single one of the 205 Democrats who voted against protecting women and girls in sports, are in our dorm rooms, our locker rooms, our bathrooms, our scholarship programs pleading for your platform,” Gaines said. “Again, how can I, as a woman, vote for that, not just for myself, but for the next generation? That’s why I’m voting for Donald Trump.”
