MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk decided to involve himself in a social media sparring match between anti-trans activist Riley Gaines and Olympic gymnast Simone Biles – and it didn’t go well for him.
After Biles, an 11-time Olympic medal winner, called Gaines “truly sick” for using her platform to buIly trans people and told her no one in sports is safe with her around, Kirk replied, “Unlike you, Riley never quit when things got hard.”
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Kirk was likely referring to when Biles withdrew from many of the 2020 Olympic events after coming down with a phenomenon called “the twisties” that prevented her from being able to safely compete. She returned in 2024, though, and won several more medals.
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Meanwhile, Gaines hasn’t competitively swum since graduating from college, and Kirk dropped out of Harper Community College near Chicago without completing any degree or certification — he hasn’t played any professional or collegiate sports.
Cue the internet’s endless laughter. Folks on X had a lot to say about Kirk’s claim.
Riley whines incessantly about "losing" to a trans woman when she actually tied for 5th with a trans woman. She didn't win anything, didn't lose anything.
And she never quits, you're right about that. She never quit whining and actually made that her whole pathetic personality. https://t.co/0AfQiLFz6u— Gertrude Boutd'viarge
(@TaYeuleJoe) June 10, 2025
Unlike Riley, Simone built her career off of winning rather than losing https://t.co/v9eXkmjO7s
— Soy
(@SoiSoiSoiSo1) June 8, 2025
The drama began after Gaines mocked a high school softball team for having a trans player.
The women’s team posted a celebratory photo after winning the state championship. Gaines criticized the account for having its comments turned off and misgendered the trans player in the process. “Comments off lol,” she wrote. “To be expected when your star player is a boy.”
Biles replied with disdain, telling Gaines, “You’re truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser. You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive OR creating a new avenue where trans feel safe in sports. Maybe a transgender category IN ALL sports!! But instead… You buIly them… One things for sure is no one in sports is safe with you around!!!!!”
Biles was referring to the fact that Gaines has built an entire career out of the fact that she and trans swimmer Lia Thomas tied for 5th place in the 200-yard freestyle at the 2022 NCAA championship.
Gaines has viciously campaigned against trans people ever since, claiming she was somehow robbed of a title, even though she would have gotten 5th place whether Thomas had competed or not (and even though four cisgender swimmers beat them both).
Gaines replied to Biles saying that her take is “actually so disappointing.”
“It’s not my job or the job of any woman to figure out how to include men in our spaces,” she said. “You can uplift men stealing championships in women’s sports with YOUR platform. Men don’t belong in women’s sports and I say that with my full chest.”
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