Riley Gaines took the moral high ground in the face of a vile expletive-laden rant from ex-Bravo TV star and podcast host Jennifer Welch on Wednesday.
Gaines has gained notoriety across America for her strong stance on getting transgender athletes out of women’s sport, campaigning hard for women’s rights.
Her strong views, passionate support of Donald Trump, and friendship with the late Charlie Kirk have irked many on the left, though, and she was on the end of a hateful rant this week.
Welch is the former star of Bravo reality TV series Sweet Home Oklahoma, and she now co-hosts a podcast called ‘I’ve Had It’ with her former co-star Angie ‘Pumps’ Sullivan.
On the latest episode, Welch – unprompted – said of Gaines: ‘You’re an insufferable t**t. Nobody likes you and no matter what you will always have been the dumb b***h that tied for 5th place.
‘The only place you can get a job is at bottom-feeder Fox News you insufferable t**t. Nobody likes you except for the other fake Christians that enjoy in their spare time watching children get zip-tied. So f*** you Riley Gaines.’
Jennifer Welch (left) went on a furious rant about Riley Gaines on her podcast this week
Gaines responded on X and took the high ground, saying she was ‘praying for these women’
Gaines quickly took to social media to quote tweet the rant, replying: ‘They say these things about me merely because I said men are not women. That’s it. If you share that belief, they think the same about you. Such harsh words. Praying for these women.’
Her mature response received a strong positive response from X users, while Welch was panned for her sweary criticism on such a public forum.
In the initial abuse, Welch referred to Gaines finishing fifth in the 200m freestyle swimming competition at the 2022 national championships, where she tied with transgender athlete Lia Thomas – the subject of much of her campaigning.
One Gaines supporter reflected on that and wrote to Welch: ‘Riley was fifth in the nation. Fourth, if you DQ the dude. That’s incredibly impressive. She is now a mom and a very effective spokeswoman for many common sense issues.’
Another said to Gaines: ‘Your grace is something we can all model.’
A third said of the criticism: ‘Can you imagine being such a complete…well… t**t about a woman sticking up for women’s rights.’
Gaines was roundly praised for her reaction to the abusive comments made on the podcast
Gaines competed against biological male Thomas (left) at the NCAA Championships in 2022
Gaines also reposted a comment from fellow conservative activist Allie Beth Stuckey, who said: ‘Ending up like [Jennifer Welch] is every girl’s nightmare. No one looks at her and feels envy.
‘Girls may pity her; other bitter women may relate to her, but no one admires her. She is an unhinged blueanon conspiracy theorist capitalizing on liberal women’s boredom and naïveté, and her heart is more frozen than her eyebrows.
‘@Riley_Gaines_ – keep slugging, my friend.’
It is not the first time this week that Welch has hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons, after she previously sparked outrage for laughing about the death of conservative influencers.
She started this particular rant by blasting senate leaders Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer for not joining Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at New York mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani’s rally in Queens over the weekend.
‘Shame on Jeffries and shame on Schumer for not being at that rally. Seriously, that is the most despicable Democratic leadership I’ve ever seen,’ she raged.
Gaines has been a staunch critic of trans athletes in women’s sports for the past few years
Thomas won a national championship after competing against Gaines back in 2022
Welch then played a shocking clip of a liberal ‘wine mom’ celebrating the death of conservatives at the anti-Trump No Kings protest to show how far-left a lot of the Democratic base has moved.
In the video, the protester argued with right wing activist Kaitlin Bennett about Kirk, calling the late Turning Point USA founder a ‘horrible person’ and saying she was ‘glad he’s not here.’
Stunned, Bennett asked, ‘You’re glad he’s dead?’ to which the woman fired back, ‘Yes!’ before citing Kirk’s ‘horrible’ speech during his college campus tours.
Bennett responded, ‘You know what, I do the exact same thing. Would you be glad if I died?’ Without skipping a beat, the woman said, ‘Maybe. I’d have to think about it.’
