NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE — Riley Gaines – a 12-time All-American swimmer with five SEC titles – announced in an interview on Thursday that she supports Ron DeSantis for president in 2024.
The former NCAA swimmer’s life was changed when she was forced to share a locker room and then compete against biological male Lia Thomas at the 2022 NCAA Women’s Swimming Championship.
RADICAL IDEOLOGY DRIVING INSANITY
“His leadership has been crucial in rooting out the radical ideology that’s really driving this insanity – really bringing visibility to these cultural issues that affect the breakdown of families, the breakdown of faith, the breakdown of freedoms,” Gaines told Newsmax’s Eric Bolling.
During the interview, Gaines, now a spokeswoman for Independent Women’s Voice, said she supports DeSantis because of his accomplishments in Florida.
“He’s really taken on this political establishment, the woke corporations, the media, and he’s won,” Gaines said.
“WE REJECT THESE LIES”
Last March, DeSantis officially declared Emma Weyant, a Sarasota native, the victor of the NCAA’s Division 1 Women’s 500-yard freestyle event after the league recognized Lia Thomas, a biological male, as the winner.
“Whereas, a male identifying as a woman was allowed to compete in and was declared the winner of the race by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Emma was determined to have come in second place,” DeSantis announced. “In Florida, we reject these lies and recognize Sarasota’s Emma Weyant as the best women’s swimmer in the 500y freestyle.”
DeSantis further said the NCAA is “destroying opportunities for women, making a mockery of its championships, and perpetuating a fraud.”
Watch the full interview with Gaines here.
