Last night, American Experiment hosted Riley Gaines for an event in suburban Minneapolis. I got to know Riley when I had her as a guest on the Dennis Prager show. That led to our invitation to come to Minnesota.
It is hard to say how many tickets we could have sold to see Ms. Gaines. We cut off sales at 430 lest the fire marshal shut us down. She is the woman of the hour. You can’t overstate how much America’s conservatives–or rather, normals–appreciate her courage in standing up against the Left’s sinister gender-bending. Riley couldn’t have gotten a warmer reception from our crowd.
This video shows the whole event, starting with my introduction of Ms. Gaines. A few clips will follow:
These are some clips that we have pushed out on social media:
.@Riley_Gaines_ doesn't hate the protesters who took her hostage in San Francisco, she wants to pray for them.
"I have no hate in my heart for anyone… I have compassion in my heart for the people who are struggling with this delusion… Their delusion is being affirmed… pic.twitter.com/VSpGd1SqjJ
— Center of the American Experiment (@MNThinkTank) July 7, 2023
.@Riley_Gaines_ on why other well-known athletes aren't speaking up:
"For a while I had sympathy… but now, after seeing more women get injured, get exploited in locker rooms, and lose out on opportunities, I don't have that same empathy in my heart. We need more people to… pic.twitter.com/NJYb6tR83W
— Center of the American Experiment (@MNThinkTank) July 7, 2023
.@Riley_Gaines_: "Nobody is trying to ban trans people from sports… everyone just needs to play where is fair and where is safe."
From an American Experient event on 7/6/23 pic.twitter.com/SSZk8FnX7v
— Center of the American Experiment (@MNThinkTank) July 7, 2023
When the event was over, Riley stayed on for selfies with members of the audience. A couple hundred, many of them young girls, trooped across the stage to have their photos taken with her. American Experiment’s staff is pretty jaded–over the years, we have brought in many world leaders and prominent conservative intellectuals. Yet they all wanted to get pictures with Riley. Heck, I did too.
A year or so ago, Riley, an excellent student, was planning on enrolling in dental school this fall. Now those plans are on hold. Having just turned 23 and recently married, she finds herself thrust into a maelstrom of controversy. That someone so young can handle herself with such grace, under so much pressure, is remarkable. No doubt the discipline she learned as a world-class athlete helps, and her family is rock solid. (I hope our staff will make a clip of the portion of Riley’s speech where she described how her father, a former NFL running back, offered to come down to the women’s locker room to straighten things out, during the Lia Thomas fiasco.)
But in addition, Gaines has a presence that transcends age and experience. Don’t be surprised if conservatives–normal Americans–persuade her, down the road, to continue in a public, and perhaps political, role. Root canals may have to wait. I can only add that in my experience, I have found Riley to be an absolutely delightful young woman. Her future couldn’t be brighter.
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