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POTUS Turns On Conservative Athlete Over Viral Post

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Riley Gaines
Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

President Donald Trump dismissed Riley Gaines after she publicly challenged a controversial social media post he later removed.

Trump shared an AI-generated image on Truth Social that some users interpreted as placing him in a religious context. The post drew attention quickly, and Gaines reacted directly on X.

“Why? Seriously, I cannot understand why he’d post this. Is he looking for a response? Does he actually think this?” she posted.

“Either way, two things are true. 1) a little humility would serve him well. 2) God shall not be mocked,” she added.

Trump rejected her criticism during a phone interview when asked about the post and his decision to delete it. He addressed both the reaction and his relationship with Gaines in the same response.

“I didn’t listen to Riley Gaines,” Trump said. “I’m not a big fan of Riley, actually.”

Gaines posted again after Trump’s remarks, returning to the same criticism while separating it from her broader political support.

“I love the President and I’m so grateful he’s in the Oval Office. Of course, I’ll continue to support him and the America First agenda. At the end of the day, I do nothing for the approval of man. Our purpose on this earth is to glorify Him in all we do. The truth social post missed the mark. It’s now deleted,” she wrote.

She followed with another message that expanded on her personal beliefs and how she viewed the situation.

“Amazing! We’re imperfect people. I know I am. I don’t get my feelings hurt easy and I know with the President it’s really not personal. I want to spend eternity in a real place called Heaven. I’d love for Trump to be there too. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. I’ll keep doing my part by speaking truth & doing my best to lead others to Christ.”

Trump had publicly supported Gaines in the past, including during a White House event tied to an executive order on women’s sports earlier this year.

He highlighted her role during that appearance and placed her at the center of the issue, after she lost to transgender swimmer Lia Thomas in the 2022 NCAA Championship.

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He called her a “brave swimmer” and said she was “at the forefront” of the issue.

Gaines also appeared at rallies during the 2024 campaign, backing Trump’s messaging on policy and cultural issues. Her presence at those events reinforced her alignment with his positions.

Trump addressed how the image was being interpreted when speaking to reporters, pushing back on claims that it carried a religious message.

“I viewed that as a picture of me being a doctor in fixing – you had the Red Cross right there, you had, you know, medical people surrounding me,” he said.

Trump explained his decision to remove the post as a response to confusion among viewers rather than criticism from allies or opponents. He said he took it down because “people were confused.”

He addressed the image again when asked whether it had been altered or misrepresented.

“It was me,” Trump said. “I did post it and I thought it was me as a doctor and had to do with the Red Cross as a Red Cross worker there which we support, and only the fake news could come up with that one.”

“So I, I just heard about it and I said, how did they come up with that? It’s supposed to be me as a doctor making people better, and I do make people better,” he added.

Vice President JD Vance defended Trump’s explanation during an interview, describing the post as a joke that some people misunderstood.

“I think the president was posting a joke and, of course, he took it down because he recognized that a lot of people weren’t understanding his humor in that case,” Vance said.

He connected that moment to Trump’s broader communication style, describing his approach to social media as direct and unfiltered.

“I think the president of the United States likes to mix it up on social media,” he added. “And I actually think that’s one of the good things about this president is that he’s not filtered. He doesn’t send everything through a communications professional. He actually reaches out directly to the people.”

Vance addressed disagreements involving the Vatican during the same interview, pointing to policy differences rather than personal conflict.

“When it comes to the disagreements with the Vatican, look, we’re going to have disagreements, Bret, from time to time,” he said.

He tied those disagreements directly to policy decisions made by the U.S. government.

“The pope has been critical of our immigration policy, but ultimately the immigration policy of the United States is set by Donald Trump.”

He continued by describing those differences as part of normal political dynamics.

“The pope is going to have disagreements on other issues. We can respect the pope. We certainly have a good relationship with the Vatican, but we’re also going to disagree on substantive questions from time to time.”

Trump criticized Pope Leo XIV in a separate Truth Social post, describing the pontiff in harsh terms tied to crime and foreign policy.

He called the pope “weak” on crime and “terrible” on foreign policy.

“I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a Country that was sending massive amounts of Drugs into the United States and, even worse, emptying their prisons, including murderers, drug dealers, and killers, into our Country,” Trump added.

Pope Leo responded when asked about the criticism, declining to engage in a direct back-and-forth.

“I will not enter into debate. The things that I say are certainly not meant as attacks on anyone. The message of the Gospel is very clear: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers,’” he said.

“I will not shy away from announcing the message of the Gospel and inviting all people to look for ways of building bridges of peace and reconciliation, and looking for ways to avoid war any time that’s possible.”

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