YT YouTube2Text

YouTube2Text → Transcripts → An interview with Riley Gaines to talk Simone Biles drama, trans women in sports, more

An interview with Riley Gaines to talk Simone Biles drama, trans women in sports, more — Transcript

by Stephen A. Smith · 3,678 words · 526 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

Open in transcriber Summarize with AI Download SRT/VTT

Full transcript

0:00a former NCAA all-American swimmer
0:03turned conservative pundit who now hosts
0:05the gains forgirl podcast on outkick.com
0:09that focuses on current events, social
0:11issues, and topics related to women's
0:14rights and gender equity. Please welcome
0:16to the Stephen A. Smith Show, Miss Riley
0:17Gaines. Riley, how are you? How's
0:19everything? I am fantastic. Uh, super
0:22excited to be on with you today. So,
0:23thanks for the opportunity. Uh, please,
0:25my pleasure. Thank you for coming on.
0:26Let me give the audience some background
0:28on the story. Last week, a transgender
0:31softball pitcher in Minnesota named
0:33Marissa Rothenberger led Champlain Park
0:36High School to a state championship.
0:38This athletes participation in a girl
0:40softball season was in defiance of
0:42President Donald Trump's executive order
0:44of keeping biological men out of women's
0:46sports. The high school league removed
0:49comments from a post showing the winners
0:52of a softball state championship. So, I
0:55know you reacted to that. I want to know
0:57what was your reaction when you saw all
0:59of that. Could you remind our audience
1:00of what it was? Absolutely. Well, this
1:03was about two weeks ago at this point.
1:05Uh understand that week we saw in five
1:08different states, California,
1:10Washington, Oregon, Maine, and
1:11Minnesota, boys take qualifying spots,
1:14state championships, or podium spots
1:16from deserving girls. uh this case in
1:19Minnesota that you're referring to. Uh
1:21this was a boy who uh pitched five games
1:25straight, 35 consecutive innings. Uh
1:27only allowed two runs of those 35
1:30innings. I think he pitched 21 shutout
1:32innings. Uh they won the state
1:34championship. It was his team's first
1:36time ever even making the state
1:37tournament. Of course, they went on to
1:38win. Uh he led his team uh in a way that
1:42I would describe not very valiantly. Uh,
1:45nonetheless, to be very clear, uh, this
1:47boy is is following the rules that were
1:49in place by, uh, local leadership, state
1:51leadership, of course, at the
1:53intercolastic level, but nonetheless, it
1:55it violated federal law, that federal
1:56law being title N. So, I was quick to
1:58call this out, as I have done for years
2:00after experiencing personally the
2:03effects of competing against a man. Uh,
2:05so that's a little backstory here. Uh,
2:08the issue is still happening. It it
2:09continues to persist with full seam
2:11ahead and no signs of slowing down. And
2:14how long have you maintained or you know
2:16I don't I don't want to say this is new
2:17to you because like you said you've been
2:18speaking on this for quite some time.
2:20I'm assuming when you talked about
2:22having personally experienced competing
2:23against a man as a swimmer. I'm assuming
2:25you're alluding to Leah Thomas. I want
2:27you to talk about the origins of your
2:30feelings and how outspoken you have been
2:32about this particular issue in the past.
2:34Yeah. Yeah. I'll give you the 30,000
2:36foot overview. Uh swam at University of
2:38Kentucky. Did some great things in my
2:40career. uh 12-time all-American,
2:42five-time SEC champion, uh the SEC
2:44record holder in the 200 butterfly, uh
2:47making me one of the fastest Americans
2:48of all time, two-time Olympic trial
2:50qualifier, the list goes on, but it but
2:52really just to reiterate, it's a
2:54lifelong journey to be able to compete
2:56and succeed really at the highest level.
2:58Senior year, NCAA's uh we're geared up,
3:01we're ready to go. This is the meet you
3:02work all year, really all your life for.
3:05uh championship final of the women's 200
3:07freestyle, meaning top eight women in
3:09the entire country. And I look over at
3:11the lane, a couple lanes over for me,
3:14and there's a 6'4 man standing there. Uh
3:17his size 15 feet taking up the entire
3:19diving block visible from his side
3:21profile is not only uh his Adam's apple,
3:24but to be pretty explicit here. And
3:25again, just describing what we saw uh
3:27the bulge and his women's swimsuit. I
3:30recognized this to be wrong, as did 99%
3:33of athletes on that pool deck, but
3:34everyone was terrified to say it. Uh,
3:37jumped in the water. We swam eight laps
3:39of freestyle, touched the wall at the
3:40end, and almost impossibly enough,
3:42Stephen, we went the exact same time,
3:45meaning down to the hundth of a second,
3:47which is really rare in our sport. Uh,
3:50we get out of the water, we go behind
3:51the awards podium where the NCAA
3:53official looks at both Thomas and
3:55myself. Thomas towering over me, eight,
3:57nine inches taller than me. And the
3:59official says, "Great job, you two, but
4:01you tied. We don't account for ties. We
4:03only have one trophy." And we're going
4:04to give that trophy to Leah. Wow. And
4:06when I asked the dreaded question of
4:08why, uh, the question that they weren't
4:11prepared to answer. They weren't given a
4:13script of of what to say when asked this
4:14question. Mhm. He stumbled on his words,
4:17but ultimately was honest and said,
4:18"Look, we've been advised as an
4:20organization, as the NCAA, that when
4:22photos are being taken, it's crucial
4:24that the trophy is in Leah's hands." And
4:26I'll tell you what, that's when I made
4:28my mind up that I would say something.
4:29Again, we all recognized it. My coaches,
4:31the athletes, athletic directors, the
4:34officials at the meet, they all knew it
4:35to be wrong, but everyone was terrified
4:37to say something. So, that was the
4:39competition piece on top of the locker
4:41room, which is is again a totally
4:43violating experience. on top of the
4:45silencing that we faced. All of those
4:47were contributing factors and ultimately
4:49the stance that I've taken a little over
4:51three years ago at this point. How much
4:53resistance have you experienced since
4:56you've taken those stance? Man, I think
4:59back to uh 2022 where it was certainly
5:02not as favorable as it is now to say the
5:05controversial thing that men and women
5:07are different. Uh I mean I have been uh
5:11in situations where my well-being, my
5:14safety is at risk. Uh I've been held
5:16captive for over five hours, four and a
5:19half hoursish actually in San Francisco
5:22uh where a a mob of protesters demanded
5:25uh that I had to pay them money if I
5:27wanted to make it back home to see my
5:28family safely again. Uh I mean even just
5:31a month ago, not even a month ago, in
5:34Seattle, I had human feces thrown at me.
5:36in Portland, there were about five uh
5:38people arrested for trying to terminate
5:40my life. And again, Stephen, like I I
5:44think my take is just about the least
5:46controversial take on the entire planet.
5:48Uh it's described as a an an 8020 issue.
5:52I think it's more drastic than that. I
5:54think it's a 9010 issue, if not even
5:55more than that. Uh 90% of of Americans,
5:59of course, believing that men don't
6:01belong in women's sports. But for saying
6:03that out loud publicly and
6:05unapologetically,
6:07uh, you're really met with some of the
6:08most hostile and oftentimes violent
6:12encounters that you could possibly
6:14imagine. Now, see, I'm I'm liberal when
6:17it comes to living and let living. Okay,
6:19that's my general stance. But when
6:21you're talking about women competing in
6:24sports against transgender women, men
6:26transitioning to women, I side with you
6:291,000%. I have no problem with your
6:32position. whatsoever. And I'm not scared
6:33to say it, and I've never been scared to
6:35say it. I I think that's absolutely the
6:36right thing to do. Women should be
6:38competing against women, men should be
6:40competing against men, and transgenders
6:42should be competing against
6:43transgenders. I have no problem with it
6:45whatsoever. I don't know why that's
6:47controversial, but when you think about
6:49what you've been exposed to and what
6:52you've had to deal with, it brings us to
6:54Simone Biles, which is why this is a
6:55subject that we had to tackle because
6:58your stance and your position recently
7:00when you spoke about the person from
7:01Minnesota that prompted Simone Biles to
7:03post this about you. Quote, this is her
7:06quote about you. You're truly sick. All
7:08of this campaigning because you lost a
7:10race. Straight up sore loser. You should
7:13be uplifting the trans community and
7:15perhaps finding a way to make sports
7:17inclusive or creating a new avenue where
7:19trans people feel safe in sports.
7:22Instead, you bully them. One thing's for
7:24sure is no one in sports is safe with
7:27you around. End quote. What was your
7:30immediate reaction when you saw what
7:33Simone Biles had to say about you, the
7:35great Olympian that she is, because
7:36nobody could question her credentials.
7:38And now that you've had an opportunity
7:39to reflect even further on what she has
7:42said, what is your reaction now? When I
7:44first got this notification on my phone,
7:47of course, as you just said, Simone, her
7:49illustrious career, what she's done for
7:50the sport of gymnastics, what she's done
7:52for for women's sports in general, much
7:54broader than gymnastics. I have looked
7:56up to her and admired her. I mean, I
7:58watched her compete in 2016, 2020, 2024,
8:00the past eightish, I guess nine years at
8:02this point. I I've admired Simone Biles.
8:04So when I got this notification on my
8:06phone that I had been tagged in
8:08something on X from Simone, I was like
8:10overwhelmed with excitement and starruck
8:12and I click on it and I read what what
8:15you just said out loud and I read it
8:17again and again and I clicked the
8:19profile and then I went back and I
8:20clicked the profile again to make sure
8:22it was it was really Simone Biles. This
8:24wasn't a fake account and it it really
8:26was Simone Biles. And I was heartbroken.
8:29And I'll tell you what, I wasn't
8:30heartbroken because of the personal
8:32attacks, because of her calling me a
8:33bully or saying that I'm I'm disgusting
8:36or truly sick or whatever she said. It
8:39wasn't that that hurt my feelings
8:40because I'm a very secure person. I'm
8:42secure with myself. I'm secure with the
8:44side of history that I'm on. Uh very
8:46happily married for three plus years.
8:48Like none of those personal attacks
8:49bothered me. But what did bother me uh
8:52is knowing the platform that she has and
8:55how she was so quick uh in such a
8:58venomous way to sell out young girls
9:01like my little sister. Uh my little
9:03sister's 16 years old. She's an elite
9:04level gymnast. Uh she's I come from a
9:07family of athletes. Look, my dad played
9:08professional ball. Uh SEC Hall of Famer.
9:11My brother uh played football in
9:13college. O of course went to University
9:15of Kentucky. My mom was a division one
9:17softball player. My oldest sister went
9:18to Miss. she played softball. My
9:20youngest sister's the best athlete out
9:21of all of us. She will go on to do
9:24incredible things, whatever she does in
9:26college and beyond. That's why my heart
9:28broke uh in that moment. Uh I'm sure
9:32you'll you'll continue to read the next
9:34tweet that Simone put out which we we
9:35could discuss. But in that moment I was
9:38so just disappointed uh and disheartened
9:41to know a woman who has done so much for
9:43the sport uh was so quick to pull up the
9:46ladder behind her is how I would
9:47describe it.
9:49In your response to Bobs, you brought up
9:52Larry Nasser and that's where that's the
9:54only thing that you said where I took
9:56issue. I took umbrage with what you said
9:58because you brought him up. This is the
10:00former national team doctor who sexually
10:02abused multiple US gymnasts, including
10:04Biles, under the guise of quote unquote
10:07medical treatment. You wrote, quote,
10:08"All the horrific sexual abuse Simone
10:11Biles witnessed and spoke out against
10:13caused by one man, yet believes women
10:16should be forced to strip naked in front
10:17of men to validate the man's feelings.
10:19You know how many gold medals you'd have
10:21if your inclusive dream came true?
10:24Zero." I want I I that was the only
10:27thing that I criticized you for because
10:28I thought that was really really below
10:30the belt considering what how heinous of
10:33an individual how despicable Larry
10:35Nasser was and what Simone Biles was
10:38subjected to because of that man any
10:40regrets at all about saying that
10:42bringing up Larry Nasser is what I'm
10:44asking I stand by what I said 100% but
10:47let me provide a little context okay
10:48first of all for clarity I believe Larry
10:50Nasser is a monster uh and who should
10:53spend every single waking second for the
10:55rest of his life miserable and rotting
10:57away in prison. Uh there there's no me
11:00and Simone certainly agree there.
11:02Context here for the situation again
11:04that that my own personal experience
11:06that I can speak to. I don't know if
11:08you've ever been inside of a a locker
11:09room, specifically a locker room on a
11:12pool deck, right? It's it's an open
11:13space. It's basically like a large
11:15square. There is no stalls beyond the
11:17stalls that you use the restroom in, but
11:19you're not putting your suit on or of
11:21course showering in those stalls. Okay.
11:23Does it get more perverted than being in
11:26a shower, uh, which is typical for a
11:29swimming locker room, especially, you're
11:30in the chlorine, you get out, you're in
11:32the pool five times a day, you rinse
11:33off. Does it get more perverted than
11:36standing in the shower totally undressed
11:38when a six foot 6'4 man approaches you,
11:42uh, stands in the shower head next to
11:43you, undresses himself, fully naked,
11:45fully intact, and watches you shower?
11:48That that's that's the context I was
11:49drawing. And to me, that is sexual
11:52abuse. what me and my teammates had to
11:54go through was certainly sexual abuse.
11:56Again, for clarity, um I I think what
11:59Simone, her teammates went through is
12:01condemnable and punishable beyond what
12:03we face. Again, there there's no doubt
12:05in my mind there. Um but to to try to
12:09normalize this or in Simone's case,
12:12attempt to silence those who speak out
12:14about this, that that's the conclusion I
12:16was drawing here. No girl should have to
12:18go through this. uh whether it is rape,
12:20whether it's unwanted touching, whether
12:21it's voyerism, whether it's indecent
12:23exposure. And no woman should ever ever
12:25be shamed for pointing out when men are
12:28abusing women. Uh I found a video of
12:30Simone testifying before Congress, the
12:33same seat I have found myself in. I've
12:35testifi testified before Congress in the
12:37Senate many, many times. And I listened
12:38to the part of her testimony. I I posted
12:41a video of it, a little clip of it where
12:43she's, of course, speaking to the abuse,
12:45speaking to how horrific, speaking to
12:46how no woman should have to go through
12:48this again, and our messages sounded the
12:50exact same when I sat in that seat. She
12:53got emotional in her testimony. I got
12:55emotional in my testimony describing
12:57this. That that's the conclusion I was
12:59drawing here. Uh again, it is easy to
13:02condemn Larry Nasser. Uh, but I believe
13:05it should be just as as easy to condemn
13:08those who attempt to normalize or or
13:11think it's not on a scale of gross
13:13sexual offense against women and girls
13:15to have men undressing and showering
13:18next to women. Riley, I can push back,
13:21but I won't even try. And the reason why
13:23I won't even try is because you make a
13:25very, very valid point. First of all,
13:27your personal experiences. Secondly,
13:29you're a lady. I am not. And so when you
13:31talk about what's offensive to you, one
13:33of the things that I have a problem
13:34with, particularly with people on
13:36Capitol Hill, is when men are trying to
13:38tell women how they should feel about
13:39their experiences as if they know. It's
13:41one thing for you to have an opinion,
13:42but it's another thing for you to come
13:43across as if you know something. It's
13:45impossible for you to know. I can never
13:47know what Raleigh Gaines just alluded to
13:49other than how you explained it. So, I
13:51really appreciate that point and I thank
13:53you for it. I got to ask you this
13:55question. Is there a resolution
13:58when we think about the whole trans
14:01issue in sports? I don't have any
14:04problems with anybody from the LGBTQ
14:06plus community. Live your life. Do what
14:08you do. I'm not trying to be invasive in
14:10that regard. But when we talk about
14:12trans transgender issues in the world of
14:15sports, it seems to me from a societal
14:17perspective, we're being a bit
14:18hypocritical because we go out of our
14:20way to talk about the protection that
14:22women need in terms of Title Nine, fair
14:24and equitable treatment under the laws
14:26of our land. But somehow someway
14:28something like this comes up and we
14:29forget those very things, which somebody
14:31like you essentially was reminding us,
14:33we have forgotten about that, but you
14:35didn't. So that's a testament to you.
14:37But when we talk about an equitable
14:39solution to the issue of trans athletes,
14:42is there a solution that you think
14:44exists out out there because it doesn't
14:46seem like there is one.
14:48It's a good point you bring up and it's
14:50something Simone mentioned in her
14:51initial tweet, right? Creating a a third
14:54category almost. I'll tell you, I
14:56initially supported this idea. I believe
14:58this was a way to uh prioritize
15:01inclusion, but not at the expense of
15:03safety number one and fairness number
15:05two. But I'll tell you when I changed my
15:06mind. Uh this was done. FINA, the
15:10international governing body of swimming
15:11created a third category at the
15:13international level. Like a very high
15:14level of competition uh for people like
15:17Leah Thomas or those who are identify as
15:20trans, gender non-conforming,
15:21non-binary, whatever it is, a separate
15:24category for that. Uh no one competed in
15:28it. Actually, Thomas went on to sue uh
15:31World Aquatics for for this new rule.
15:34ultimately uh making the point that he
15:36doesn't want to compete if he can't
15:38trample on women in in the process here.
15:40Uh then I began to really think about
15:42it. It is antithetical to sports to have
15:46a category based on identity. We don't
15:48have a category based on identity, any
15:50other identity, right? We don't have a
15:51category based on race and we absolutely
15:53shouldn't. We don't have a category
15:54based on religion and we absolutely
15:56shouldn't. Sports aren't about your your
15:58feelings ultimately at the end of the
16:00day. They're just not. Uh you can make
16:02the argument about of course pee-wee
16:04leagues or or 12 and under or whatever
16:06you know division that is I think
16:07especially before puberty but you reach
16:10a certain point and sports are about
16:12winning. It's about success and and I
16:14don't know if you saw even just this
16:16afternoon Simone Biles issued an apology
16:20to me. Um I think it was a bit of damage
16:23control personally but nonetheless I
16:25fully fully um accepted her apology. But
16:28in her apology, uh, she mentions, you
16:31know, we need to be striving for
16:32inclusivity and competitive equity.
16:35The idea of sports inherently are
16:38inclusive, Stephen. Anyone can play
16:41sports. That's the beauty of sports.
16:42That's why I love them. It's really this
16:44unifying experience that again I got to
16:46be a part of, that I got to benefit
16:47from. But on the other hand, competition
16:51by definition is exclusive. So the idea
16:54of competitive equity is totally
16:56nonsensical. I believe the solution is
16:58what is is at least has been in front of
17:01us the past actually this month it'll be
17:03the past 53 years uh since Title 9 was
17:06implemented. Uh you have a men's
17:08category and you have a women's category
17:10that allows for everyone under the sun
17:12to be able to compete. You know what
17:14that's a compelling argument. I I would
17:16tell you that when you think about the
17:17Parolympics and other things I mean you
17:19see people with disabilities and what
17:20have you competing against people with
17:22disabilities. So that's where my idea
17:24came from in terms of women women men
17:27trans trans. In other words, compete
17:29against your own. If you're a man
17:30transitioning into being a woman, then
17:33compete against other men transitioning
17:35into being a woman and vice versa. It
17:37shouldn't be you infiltrating women's
17:39sports in that way. I've always agreed
17:41with that position. I'm not about to sit
17:43here and be a phony and disagree with
17:44you. Now Raleigh Gains, I really really
17:46appreciate your time. Thank you very
17:48very much. Your arguments were very
17:49eloquent. I I got very little push back
17:51to provide. you know, the one push back
17:53that I had, but you explained that
17:54thoroughly and I really appreciate it.
17:56Um, are you hoping to speak to Simone
17:58Baile soon? Look, I would love it. Uh,
18:00in my response to her apology today, I
18:03conclude it by saying, look, uh, I
18:05welcome you to the fight to support fair
18:08sports and a future for female athletes.
18:09I would love to have a discussion uh to
18:11to further elaborate again the position
18:14that that I have taken, the line that I
18:16have drawn in the sand, why I will never
18:18back down from that. uh would love the
18:20opportunity to do so. Okay. Well,
18:23there's always a place here for you
18:24anytime you want to discuss these
18:26issues. I'm not running or hiding from
18:27it. And I really thank you for your
18:28time. Thank you so much for coming on
18:30and explaining your position. I really
18:31appreciate it and good luck with your
18:32show. Good luck with your podcast. I
18:34mean, you're doing good things with it.
18:35Keep keep it going. Thank you. Thank
18:37you. I appreciate it. Okay. One and only
18:39Raleigh Gains right here on the Stephen
18:40A. Mess up.

About this transcript

This page contains the full transcript of An interview with Riley Gaines to talk Simone Biles drama, trans women in sports, more by Stephen A. Smith, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 3,678 words across 526 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

What you can do with it

Use the transcript to take notes, quote the speaker, build a study guide, generate a summary with ChatGPT or Claude via the YouTube Summary tool, or export it as a timed subtitle file with YouTube to SRT. You can also re-open it in the transcriber to translate the transcript into 100+ languages.

Free YouTube transcript tool

YouTube2Text is a free YouTube transcript generator — no signup, no daily limit. Paste any YouTube link and get the full transcript instantly, with timestamps, click-to-jump, translation to 100+ languages, AI prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and exports to TXT, SRT, VTT, or Markdown.