Riley Gaines says she confronted Rep. Katie Porter on remarks
Former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines appeared on "Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich" and said she confronted Rep. Katie Porter about remarks she made about her last month.
Riley Gaines, a former NCAA swimming star for Kentucky who was the topic of conversation on "Real Time with Bill Maher" last month, said Thursday she attempted to address Rep. Katie Porter’s comments on the show.
Porter, D-Calif., clashed with pundit Piers Morgan after the lawmaker said Gaines speaking out against transgender women competing against biological females in sports was all for clicks.
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Rep. Katie Porter and Piers Morgan (Getty Images)
"I think that what she has done is try to turn this – we talked about people becoming – using things to kind of get likes and get clicks," Porter said.
Gaines appeared on OutKick’s "Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich" on Thursday and said she attempted to talk to Porter about the remarks while she was on Capitol Hill.
"We made eye contact which she very quickly acted like she was on the phone because she didn’t want to address me," she said. "But I went up to her and I introduced myself and I said, ‘Hello, Rep. Porter. My name is Riley Gaines.’ And she looked at me and said, ‘Congrats on being a competitor.’ That’s what she said.
"And I said, 'I want to address something with you.' She turned around and bolted. Wouldn’t even let me get a word out. The disrespect. The audacity to simply turn around and not even acknowledge or take accountability for what she said. And once she turned around, I of course, followed her. And I said, ‘This comment you made of doing this for clicks and likes, that is disingenuous and you know this. You know that’s not why I’m doing this. Yet, you chose to say that.’
Former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines spoke to Congress on Tuesday about an incident on April 6, 2023, when she said she was held for ransom at San Francisco State University. (Homeland Security Subcommittee via YouTube)
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"She did not respond and she continued walking away, which I think shows perfectly the cowardice of these people – to not even stand behind what you said about me. To say it to my face. That’s what I’m seeing across the board, state to state.
"These Democrats, they can’t look me in the eyes and say what they, I don’t even think it’s actually what they think, to say what they’re voting – the policies they’re voting along – and tell me to my eyes they really mean that. She couldn’t do it yesterday."
Porter didn’t immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
SEC champion swimmer Riley Gaines speaks during the general session at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas, Texas, Aug. 6, 2022. (Reuters/Go Nakamura)
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Gaines was on Capitol Hill for the unveiling of House Republicans’ Women's Bill of Rights legislation. During a press conference Wednesday morning, she explained the bill would define the word "woman" in federal law in order to bolster other bills such as the House’s recently passed Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act.
Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.