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Riley Gaines turned her time as a mediocre swimmer into a career as a right wing “influencer.”
Recently, she targeted a high school girl in her push for segregated sports, prompting a heated clash with Simone Biles.
Now, Gaines is pregnant for the first time.
But, in an apparent commitment to the bit, she used her announcement to take a dig at Biles.
Riley Gaines is pregnant
On Saturday, June 14, Riley Gaines was a speaker at a Turning Point USA event.
Turning Point USA is an organization that targets high schools and universities, pushing for conservative policies and flagging programs that counter racism.
Gaines, who has made a career out of being a talking head for segregation of cisgender athletes and transgender athletes, used the event to share her pregnancy news.
As you can see from the social media coverage, even the reactions were heavily political.
— Anna Lulis (@annamlulis) June 14, 2025
While on stage, Gaines recalled how — after she targeted a teenage girl and her softball team — Simone Biles had called her out.
During a heated confrontation (after which Biles apologized unnecessarily), the planet’s greatest gymnast suggested that Gaines “pick on someone” her own size, remarking:
“Which would ironically be a male.” Ironic, of course, because of Gaines’ outspoken transphobia in which she misgenders trans women and girls as “males.”
“How many men do you know that have this?” Gaines remarked on stage, showing her baby bump to the crowd.
Simone Biles attends Netflix’s “Simone Biles Rising” FYC event at Hollywood Athletic Club on June 02, 2025. (Photo Credit: Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)Using a pregnancy announcement to stick it to a critic is weird, right?
Those of us who personally know men who’ve had baby bumps and given birth might find Riley Gaines’ comeback a little weak.
However, given that her whole brand is pushing for segregation between cis athletes and trans athletes as a stepping stone to broader transphobic exclusions, she probably doesn’t have anything nice to say about trans men.
She’s wrong — bigotry is always wrong.
It’s also just weird to see someone take what should be a joyous announcement and attempt to wield it in a petty clapback.
Riley Gaines stands on a softball field in June 2024, even though she is a failed swimmer and not a failed softball player. (Photo Credit: Terry Wyatt/Getty Images)If Simone Biles wished, she could tastefully respond to Gaines’ pregnancy news.
This would mean ignoring the mention of her and simply saying “happy for her” or something along those lines.
With or without a shady: “I hope that this brings her a sense of peace at last.”
However, perhaps the wisest move would be for Biles to say nothing at all. She very accurately called out Gaines’ “truly sick” fixation with harassing teen and young adult athletes because they are trans.
On social media, Simone Biles called out Riley Gaines in a powerful takedown. (Image Credit: Twitter)Will becoming a parent makes Gaines into a better person? Probably not
Sometimes, when someone who makes a career out of bigotry is pregnant, people on social media hope that their child is whatever target the hateful person most despises.
In some cases, this is a wish for the person to see the error of their ways — to love their child and thus change and become better human beings. In other cases, the wish is simply to spite the hateful person.
No matter what, it’s not a good wish. Every child deserves a loving home.
That means that they deserve to grow up in homes where they know that they can be themselves, not where they merely hope that their parents will have a change of heart.
Children are people, not life lessons.
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