Riley Gaines calls out Democrats' 'disheartening' pushback on House bill protecting women's sports
Podcast host Riley Gaines joined 'Fox & Friends' to discuss why she considers far-left criticism of the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act 'theatrical performance.'
Democrat lawmakers in Washington, D.C., pushed back against the GOP-led Protection of Women and Girls in Sports act last week with unsubstantiated arguments that the law would enable sexual predators to give genital examinations to young girls.
This argument was not rooted in any language within the bill, as Republicans insisted that no genital inspection would ever be necessary and that proof of birth gender could simply be determined with a birth certificate.
Still, many prominent Democrats, including House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., used the sexual predator argument in statements and during testimony on the House of Representatives floor.
This tactic has alienated some of the party's loyal voters, who have unregistered as Democrats in response.
Prominent Rutgers law professor Gary Francione has been a lifelong Democrat dating back to the 1970s. In November's general elections, he voted for Vice President Kamala Harris and Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., who was one of 206 Democrats to vote against the bill last Tuesday.
But Francione, who is an advocate for LGBTQ rights, abortion rights and even a vegan and animal rights abolitionist, said he was so offended by the Democrat representatives who tried to tie the bill to empowering child predators that he unregistered as a Democrat after last Tuesday's hearing.
"That just made me very upset because it screamed out lack of integrity, lack of honesty," Francione told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. "This is the way you fight battles? By trying to insult other people who oppose you and disagree with you and insinuate that they're child molesters or pedophiles? It seems to me you've lost the game. … I don't know how they're ever going to come back from this."
Francione has a lifelong network of other Democrats in the field of law and other industries, and he says many of them share his beliefs and will also be unregistering from the party.
"I can say confidently of the people I know who are Democrats who I've spoken to, the vast majority of them are very unhappy about all of this stuff and feel that the party has lost its way," Francione said. "I know a couple who said they are going to [unregister]."
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Francione initially announced his departure from the party in a viral post on X over the weekend. Many of his thousands of followers replied insisting they would follow his lead in unregistering from the party in response to the congressional representatives' attempt to tie the bill to empowering sexual predators.
"This is what I have done. That is when I drew the line and swapped registration," one user replied.
"I know the feeling. They drive you to it. Welcome to the club," another wrote.
Francione said the premise of allowing trans athletes to compete against females is "discriminatory" against girls and women, and he went so far as to call the Democrat argument against the bill "insane" and "irresponsible."
"I thought it was very unfair to the large number of very decent people who are concerned about fairness and safety in women's sports," he said. "These young girls, they train hard, they work hard, and then they get things taken away from them by men!"
Even former U.S. Olympic cyclist Inga Thompson admitted in a recent interview that even though she’s a lifelong Democrat, she was hopeful for President Donald Trump’s incoming presidency because of his stance on protecting women and girls in sports.
Multiple Democrat congressional representatives have chosen to refer to the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act as the "House GOP Child Predator Empowerment Act." These individuals include Jeffries, Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., Whip Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., and many of the other 206 Democrats who voted against the bill.
Ocasio-Cortez dismissed the fact that there is no language in the bill that suggests any child would be subject to genital inspections during her argument.
"The majority right now says there's no place in this bill that says it opens up for genital examinations. Well, here's the thing, there's no enforcement mechanism in this bill. And when there is no enforcement mechanism, you open the door to every enforcement mechanism!" Ocasio-Cortez said.
Ocasio-Cortez later proclaimed, "Trans girls are girls!"
But many Democrats who opposed the bill strictly opposed it based on the unsubstantiated premise that it would empower sexual predators without even advocating for the right of trans athletes to compete in women's sports, as enabling trans inclusion became a widely unpopular stance in November's election.
Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., was one of those who took that stance. Moulton previously said that he believed Democrats advocating for trans inclusion was an issue that cost them in November, and he repeatedly defended his stance of opposing trans inclusion despite backlash from those in his own party and state in the weeks that followed President Donald Trump's victory and Republican majorities in the House and Senate.
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But Moulton still voted against the bill on Tuesday, saying he does not want children to be "subjected to the invasive violations of personal privacy this bill allows."
Just two Democrats joined the Republican majority in voting in favor of the bill: Reps. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, and Vicente Gonzales, D-Texas. Their decision to defect from the rest of the party and vote for the protection of women and girls in sports reflects a growing widespread position of many voters in their party and independents, according to recent data.
A recent New York Times/Ipsos survey found the vast majority of Americans, including a majority of Democrats, don't think transgender athletes should be permitted to compete in women's sports. Of the 2,128 people who participated, 79% said biological males who identify as women should not be allowed to participate in women's sports. Of the 1,025 people who identified as Democrats or leaning Democrat, 67% said transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete with women.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Hakeem Jeffries (Getty Images)
Shortly after November's election, a national exit poll conducted by the Concerned Women for America legislative action committee found that 70% of moderate voters saw the issue of "Donald Trump’s opposition to transgender boys and men playing girls' and women’s sports and of transgender boys and men using girls' and women’s bathrooms" as important to them.
And 6% said it was the most important issue of all, while 44% said it was "very important."
Francione is one of the many longtime Democrat voters who believe the lawmakers in his party have failed in carrying out the will of their constituents on this issue.
"Progressives have failed," he added. "Progressives have created a grievance Olympics … and it doesn't work."
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