Monday 8 August 2022 10:52 PM Swimmer Riley Gaines slams 'left media' reports that she recoiled from Trump on ... trends now
Swimmer Reilly Gaines decried reports that she dodged a kiss from former president Donald Trump when he greeted her onstage during a Saturday evening speech.
As claims of her snub made the rounds online after her CPAC appearance, the former University of Kentucky swimmer took to Instagram to contradict those interpretations, insisting she had only moved her head as she did to better hear what the president was saying to her.
'Also worth noting that this is a prime example of the left media pushing propaganda to fit their narrative,' Gaines wrote in a post explaining her position against trans women in swimming was not anti-trans, 'In no way, shape, or form did I 'dodge a kiss' from Trump nor was I uncomfortable on that stage with him at any point in time.'
'I slightly turned my head so I could hear what he was saying to me. Proof that not everything you read is factual. But keep clutching at straws, it's almost comical.'
Trump had asked the 23-year-old former college swimmer to join him while he discussed his intent to ban transgender women from competing in women's sports while speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas, Texas.
Gaines - who became a face of the campaign against transgender sports when she spoke out after tying for fifth with Thomas in the women's 200 meter freestyle at the NCAA championships in March.
An awkward moment appeared to ensure, as Gaines appeared to momentarily flinch away when Trump swooped in to give her a peck on the cheek as she arrived at the podium.
She also stood stiffly to one side while waiting to get up to the microphone.
Gaines made an Instagram post saying she never recoiled, and that the media was trying to twist the truth to fit their narrative
Swimmer Reilly Gaines decried reports that she dodged a kiss from former president Donald Trump when called her onstage during a Saturday evening speech
Outlets including Newsweek and Mediaite and users across the internet swooped in to point out what they said was an unmistakable 'recoil' from the swimmer
'At CPAC, Trump brings up the swimmer Riley Gaines and he couldn't keep his hands off her. Then they both bash the trans community. Creepy stuff,' one person Tweeted.
Meanwhile, Mediaite ran the headline 'Trump Invites Swimmer on Stage During CPAC Speech, Who Recoils When Ex-President Goes in for a Kiss' about the story.
In March, Gaines tied with transgender athlete Lia Thomas for fifth place in the 200-meter freestyle NCAA championships.
She said she was uncomfortable having to share a changing room with former UPenn swimmer Thomas, and has been outspoken on the issue of whether it is fair for trans women to take part in competitive sports ever since.
Before she joined Trump on stage at Saturday's CPAC event she had spoken about her beliefs about trans-women in women's sports earlier in the day.
'Basically, all I want to say is that it takes a brain and common sense and fifth grade biology level understanding to realize that this is blatantly unfair. It's completely obvious,' she said.
She briefly reiterated that idea at the podium alongside Trump that evening, saying 'I'm just gonna say keep female sports female.'
Trump delivered the final speech of the event. He used it to hit all his favorite targets and prepare the grass roots for November's midterms, including a call to give more power to parents to decide what their children should be taught.
He said it was time to completely smash the 'radical left's corrupt education establishment.'
Donald Trump brought Riley Gaines on stage during a speech to conservatives on Saturday evening. The former college swimmer has spoken of her discomfort at having to get changed with transgender athlete Lia Thomas and said 'keep female sports female'
Trump closed the conference with a greatest-hits speech on Saturday evening. 'Across the country, we need to implement strict prohibitions on teaching inappropriate racial, sexual and political material to American schoolchildren in any form whatsoever,' he said.
Trump has repeatedly suggested he is preparing to run again but has not yet committed to a campaign. 'We may have to do it again,' he said Saturday to wild applause
'What's more basic than parents rights, especially parents rights over their children?
'We're trying to defend parents rights,' he said. 'It's so crazy.
'Across the country, we need to implement strict prohibitions on teaching inappropriate racial, sexual and political material to American schoolchildren in any form whatsoever.
'And the federal bureaucrats are going to push this radicalism. We should abolish the Department of Education.
'And we will keep men out of women's sports.'
His speech was packed with greatest hits - bashing his favorite target House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, calling for the National Guard to provide law and order in crime-hit cities, and demanding death sentences for drug dealers.
His audience of red-blooded conservatives lapped it up, chanting 'U.S.A' as he took the stage.
He slammed Pelosi's recent trip to Taiwan, saying she had played into China's hands, allowing it make even more aggressive moves on the autonomous island.
China launched live fire military exercises after Pelosi visited Taiwan in a show of support.
Trump also blasted Nancy Pelosi's trip to Taiwan in a speech on Saturday evening. 'She fails. The women
