Riley Gaines Roasted After Claiming U.S. Olympians Who Criticized Trump 'Hate America' In Mind-Numbing Rant

Former NCAA swimmer-turned-conservative darling Riley Gaines was widely mocked online after she criticized U.S. Olympians who have been critical of the Trump administration, saying they "hate America" in remarks on Fox News.

Several Olympians made headlines this month for statements critical of the Trump administration's policies, particularly amid the ongoing nationwide immigration crackdown

For instance, freeskier Chloe Kim, the daughter of South Korean immigrants, who has previously addressed how racism has impacted her career, said "it is really important for us to unite and kind of stand up for one another for all that’s going on."

Figure skater Amber Glenn also described the current climate in the U.S. as especially difficult for herself and others in the LGBTQ+ community.

Similarly, Richard Ruohonen, a curler from Brooklyn Park, Minnesota—just north of Minneapolis, where protests against ICE raged for weeks particularly following the killings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti—drew from his decades of legal experience, saying, "what's happening in Minnesota is wrong" while stressing the value of freedom of speech and of the press.

This week, Trump has also faced criticism for phoning the U.S. men's hockey team following their gold medal win to invite them to attend his State of the Union address and quipping that failing to invite the women as well might "get him impeached," remarks that came after the women's team had beaten Canada to claim gold in Thursday’s hockey final.

And Gaines is positively incensed about it, at one point criticizing freestyle skier Eileen Gu, a dual citizen of the U.S. and its rival China who was born and raised in the U.S. but opted to represent China in 2019:

"They're not even trying to hide their intent anymore. Eileen Gu, while obviously an incredible athlete and nothing to take away from her accomplishments there... This is a woman who was born in the U.S., has lived in the U.S. her entire life, has trained in the U.S."

"Every opportunity she has had is because of America yet she sold out for millions of dollars to the Chinese international sports governing body. They're not even attempting to hide what they value, what they don't value. I think these people, they hate America, they hate patriotism."

"I will say, as someone who once played sports, I've competed at the Olympic trial level. My heart swells with pride. It swells with pride for the U.S. Women's hockey team, it swells with pride for the U.S. Men's hockey team, it swells with pride for incredible athletes like Alysa Liu because I love the United States of America."

"These people don't. They don't want unity, they don't want patriotism, and they don't like America and its inhabitants."

You can hear what she said in the video below.

Gaines' remarks about these athletes are silly considering her reputation as a sore loser.

Gaines has consistently opposed the rights of trans athletes, particularly since her fifth-place tie with trans University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas in the women's 200m freestyle final at the National Collegiate Athletics Association championships. She has argued that sharing fifth place with a trans woman amounts to being deprived of a rightful victory.

Though she referenced competing at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials, she omitted that she placed 85th in the 100-meter freestyle prelims and failed to move on.

It's kind of funny to hear her so worked up about athletes that "hate America" as she continues to dedicate herself to toothless activism for "fairness" in sports that fights for the exclusion of others more accomplished than herself.

She was swiftly called out.

Given that Gaines once made headlines for complaining that the University of Maryland should have been "honoring entrepreneurs or veterans or innovators" instead of having Kermit the Frog give a commencement speech at a graduation ceremony, we probably shouldn't be taking her too seriously.