Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez may have styled herself as a defender of women, but she apparently doesn’t have much respect for their athletic achievements.
The New York Democrat went “Mean Girls” on former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines in a heated social-media exchange after she issued a warning about the Democratic Party’s hard-left tilt.
It began when Ms. Gaines posted a photo of the congresswoman at a Sunday rally with Sen. Bernard Sanders, to support New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani — all three being socialists who run on far-left platforms.
“We’re being destroyed from within,” said Ms. Gaines in a post on X.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez responded Monday – not by engaging Ms. Gaines on the issues, but by jeering at her fifth-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle at the 2022 NCAA Division I women’s swimming and diving championships.
Said Ms. Cortez on X: “Maybe if you channeled all this anger into swimming faster you wouldn’t have come in fifth.”
Ms. Gaines, who famously tied with transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, accused the congresswoman of hypocrisy on the female empowerment issue.
“It’s *always* ‘we support women’s rights!’ until it’s a woman who wants the right to compete & undress free from less than mediocre men,” said Ms. Gaines, who hosts OutKick’s “Gaines on Girls” podcast. “Keep your mentally ill men out of our sports, locker rooms, prisons, etc.”
She also wasn’t about to apologize for being only the fifth-fastest female freestyler in the race.
“It’s always hilarious when they think they’ve landed a ‘gotcha’ by pointing out I was the 5th-fastest woman *in the nation* yet they conveniently forget the mediocre man who ranked 462nd in the men’s division lol,” said Ms. Gaines on X.
She added: “Misogynistic dunce.”
Maybe if you channeled all this anger into swimming faster you wouldn’t have come in fifth. https://t.co/gkiEyZ8JGX
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) October 27, 2025
Backing her up was Sen. Tommy Tuberville, Alabama Republican, who has sponsored legislation to prohibit biological males from competing in female sports.
“What happened to ‘support all women’ @AOC?” asked Mr. Tuberville on X. “@Riley_Gaines_ is a 5x SEC Champion and 12x NCAA All-American. Not to mention she’s a patriot who has fought every day for women and girls.”
He added: “Meanwhile, AOC thinks ‘women’s rights’ just means abortion.”
In January, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez joined most Democrats in voting against H.R. 28, the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which would ban federal assistance to athletic programs that allow biological males to compete in female-designated sports.
The measure passed the House but has yet to receive a vote in the Senate.
Mr. Mamdani enjoys a double-digit lead in the polls in next week’s mayoral race against former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.
