Riley Gaines Challenges AOC; AOC Fires Back

Former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines posted a photo from a New York City rally saying "we’re being destroyed from within," prompting Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to reply on X by mocking Gaines’ fifth-place tie at the 2022 NCAA championships with Lia Thomas. The exchange reopened debate over transgender athletes after Gaines — an outspoken critic who has led lawsuits and advocacy against trans participation in women’s sports — accused Democrats of siding with biological males and highlighted Thomas’s prior ranking in men’s competition. On Fox News’s The Ingraham Angle, Gaines challenged Ocasio-Cortez to a public debate, offering to defend capitalism, a biblical worldview and anti-abortion positions. Ocasio-Cortez also told Gaines to "get a real job," and Gaines responded that being a mother is her full-time job; the spat drew attention from conservative commentators and intensified the national conversation over women’s sports and transgender athletes.