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JK Rowling will fight for Riley Gaines.
Gaines made headlines this week after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez personally attacked the OutKick host on social media by mocking his collegiate athletic accomplishments.
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(Left) JK Rowling attends the world premiere of “Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s Secret” at the Royal Festival Hall in London, England on March 29, 2022. (Right) Riley Gaines speaks at a vigil for Charlie Kirk outside the Sumner County Administration Building in Gallatin, Tennessee on September 14, 2025. (Mike Marsland/WireImage; Alan Poizner/For the Tennessean Network/USA TODAY via Imagn Images)
It all started when Gaines posted a photo of AOC, New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and Sen. Bernie Sanders at a recent campaign event and captioned it, “We are destroyed from the inside out.”
AOC applauded, referencing Gaines’ fifth-place tie with trans-identifying swimmer Lia Thomas at the 2022 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championship.
“Maybe if you had channeled all that anger into swimming faster, you wouldn’t have come fifth,” AOC wrote on X.
Since then, it seems everyone on social media has weighed in – from far-left podcaster Jennifer Welch to MP Nancy Mace and now even JK Rowling.
Riley Gaines challenged AOC to debate socialism, capitalism, God, abortion and more. ((Photo by Ivan Apfel/Getty Images))
RILEY GAINES RESPONDS TO AOC’S PERSONAL ATTACKS, CALLS DEMOCRATS FOR ‘VIRTUE SIGNALING’
The “Harry Potter” author responded to an X user named Alex Cole, who accused Gaines of relying on trans athletes to become famous.
“If you removed all trans athletes from sports, no one would have heard of Riley Gaines,” he wrote. “She owes her livelihood to trans athletes.”
Rowling responded: “.@Riley_Gaines_ doesn’t stand up for women’s rights for attention or money any more than I do. We fight because it’s the only thing to do if you’re not a coward, pick me or a living doormat.”
Gaines also responded to the post, saying, “Moral conviction is a foreign concept to some. »
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) prepares to speak at a rally for immigration provisions to be included in the Build Back Better Act in front of the U.S. Capitol, December 7, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Both Rowling and Riley know a thing or two about dealing with a crowd. And both refuse to back down.
