‘His Leadership Has Been Crucial’: Riley Gaines Endorses Ron DeSantis for President

Swimmer Riley Gaines, an outspoken advocate against transgender athletes in women’s sports, has officially endorsed Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president.

Speaking with Eric Bolling of Newsmax, Gaines began her endorsement of Ron DeSantis by recalling the extremism pushed by the Biden administration on the issues of gender ideology, citing herself as a victim, given that a male swimmer beat her in the NCAA championship.

“First of all, as a young woman, I just want to share just how I’ve been affected by this gender ideology propaganda that’s being pushed across this country,” she began. “I really understand the threat that we as Americans are under just based off my own experience and being forced to compete and change in a locker room with a male.”

Gaines also recalled how a woke mob assaulted her after she delivered a speech at San Francisco State University this year and how the Biden administration has placed an incredible burden on women and girls. Finally, she endorsed Ron DeSantis, hailing him for leading the fight against this extremism.

“That’s why this next election is so important for the sake of restoring and ultimately saving America and the people who live here,” she said. “So that being said, I am so excited to announce that I am officially endorsing Governor DeSantis as president.”

“His leadership has been crucial in rooting out the radical ideology that’s really driving this insanity and really bringing visibility to these cultural issues that affect the breakdown of families, the breakdown of faith, and the breakdown of freedom. He has really taken on this political establishment, the woke corporations, the media, and he’s won and we know this based off his success in Florida,” she added.

Not only has Florida banned men from competing in women’s sports in schools but, as Breitbart News reported, the state also banned transgender surgeries and “gender-affirming” care for minors.

“Florida is officially banning the mutilation of minors in the name of ‘gender affirmation,’ as Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Wednesday signed legislation addressing issues associated with the radical left’s transgender agenda,” Breitbart News reported. “DeSantis signed another batch of legislation, including S.B. 254, which will permanently ‘outlaw the mutilation of minors,’ the governor explained.”

DeSantis said the law will also ban “surgical procedures and experimental puberty blockers for minors” and “will also require any adults receiving the surgeries to be informed about the irreversible nature and about the dangers of the procedures.”

Riley Gaines has previously described protecting women’s sports as “spiritual warfare.”

“What we’re being asked to do is to deny objective truth. It’s to deny the sky is blue, is to say that men and women are the same,” Gaines said. “We’re equal, but we’re not the same … I feel like we’re in this battle of really spiritual warfare. It’s no longer good or bad or right or wrong. This is like moral versus evil.”

Watch: Transgender Activists Chase Down Riley Gaines at SFSU

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Paul Roland Bois joined Breitbart News in 2021. He also directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed on Tubi, Google Play, YouTube Movies, or Vimeo on Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.