AOC slammed for ‘disheartening’ House floor tirade on bill protecting women’s sports
Former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines slammed Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., for her “disheartening” tirade on the House floor criticizing Republicans for passing a bill aimed at banning biological males from female sports.
Gaines accused Democrats of holding a “theatrical performance” against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act after it passed on Tuesday. She dispelled far-left myths about the future of sports eligibility during “Fox & Friends.”
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“If she spent two seconds reading the bill, she would know this… has nothing to do with genital inspections. This has nothing to do with any sort of anatomical examination,” Gaines told host Lawrence Jones on Wednesday. “This resorts to birth certificates and a routine physical which every athlete already has to complete to be able to play their sport anyway.”
“So to watch the theatrical performance, which that’s exactly what it was, from pretty much all of the Democrats on the House floor, it was disheartening,” she continued. “And to continue to see them tout about women’s rights, and she mentions the Violence Against Women Act… Do we remember how AOC voted on the Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act? Because she voted in opposition.”
WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 14: Former competitive swimmer Riley Gaines speaks at a news conference following the House of Representatives vote on H.R. 28 – “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act” at the U.S. Capitol on January 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. The House of Representatives passed the legislation in a 218 to 206 vote to prohibit federal funding for K-12 schools that include transgender students on women’s sports teams. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Every Republican representative voted in favor of the bill, but only two Democrats, Reps. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, and Vicente Gonzales, D-Texas, voted to pass it. The remaining 206 House Democrats all voted against. Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C., voted “present.”
Ocasio-Cortez slammed Republicans over the legislation, arguing young girls would be subject to genital examinations, a claim that Republicans claim is entirely false.
“Republicans who have voted against, consistently, against the Violence Against Women Act now want to pretend today that they care about women. And why? To open up gender and, yes, genital examinations into little girls in this country in the so-called name of attacking trans girls,” she said. “Trans girls are girls”
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The bill, if it passes the Senate and is signed into law, would ban schools from allowing biological males from competing in female sports.
Athletes would need to compete in sports teams that coincide with the gender on the individual’s birth certificate. Any schools that fail to comply with the rule would lose their federal funding.
It would apply to all federally funded schools from kindergarten through high school, as well as colleges and universities that receive federal dollars.
Despite far-left scrutiny against the legislation, Gaines insisted the issue of protecting women and girls’ sports is anything but partisan.
“Apparently November 5th taught the Democrats nothing,” Gaines said. “I was curious going into this. Will we see people double down like we saw from AOC, or will we see people start to slowly recant from their position?”
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Several Democrats spoke out against their own party’s laser focus on inclusivity and progressivism recently, arguing that the far-left did not leave any room for dissent on issues like transgender athletes.
Gaines pointed to Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., who previously said on the record he did not support males competing in female sports. Despite his initial opposition, he did not vote in favor of the bill, and neither did Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., who also voiced concerns.
“He [Moulton] went on the news, and he said, ‘We’ve become too radical as a party. I have daughters. I don’t want my daughters on the court or on the field with boys,’ but even Congressman Moulton was pressured into voting in opposition of the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act,” Gaines said.
“But that tells you something,” she continued. “It tells you that more than a party, what the Democrats are… is truthfully, they’re a cult.”
Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind and Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.
