Right-wing activist Riley Gaines has leveled a new attack on Simone Biles — and it was quite the “unnecessary jab,” one expert who specializes in trauma and coping skills said.
It’s hard to ignore Simone Biles — not just because she’s one of the greatest gymnasts of all time, but because she’s become a powerful voice for mental health, women’s empowerment, and resilience. But unfortunately, that spotlight also makes her a frequent target. Most recently, a right-wing activist has aimed yet another “unnecessary jab” at Biles — sparking heated debate and public backlash. So, what was said this time? Why is Biles being dragged into another politically charged narrative? Let’s unpack everything.
On Sunday, Gaines retweeted a screenshot of Biles’ personal account on X, formerly Twitter, that showed it was no longer active. The former collegiate swimmer jumped on the new development to mock Biles, the most decorated gymnast of all time, and suggest that she must’ve deactivated her account due to their online dispute earlier this month. Gaines wrote that Biles had an “incredibly unpopular and morally indefensible take,” and got “rightfully ridiculed for it.” She then boasted that Biles had apologized after receiving “unrelenting backlash” and claimed that the gold medal winner shut down her X account “to pretend it never happened.” “Sad to see such a phenom go down like this,” Gaines wrote in the post.
Biles’ other social media accounts remain active, and she has not released a public statement about why her X account appears to have been deactivated as of Monday. The gymnast’s representatives did not immediately return HuffPost’s request for comment. Gaines and Biles previously engaged in a back-and-forth on X after Biles criticized the right-wing activist for publicly bullying a teenage softball player who is transgender. The gymnastics star told Gaines at the time that she should instead be “uplifting the trans community” and trying to make sports more inclusive. “Bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male,” Biles wrote in another post.
Gaines, for her part, referenced the gymnast’s sexual abuse case against disgraced sports doctor and convicted sex offender Larry Nassar. “All the horrific sexual abuse [Biles] witnessed and spoke out against caused by one man, yet believes women should be forced to strip naked in front of men to validate the man’s feelings,” Gaines wrote. “You know how many gold medals you’d have if your ‘inclusive’ dream came true? Zero.”
Biles has since apologized for getting personal in her online clash with Gaines, who has not issued a public apology. The Olympian has since received a wave of right-wing attacks on social media and from prominent conservative pundits. Fox News host Jesse Watters shared his two cents about the dispute and called Biles “mentally weak” in a segment on “The Five” — a dig referencing her publicly discussing challenges she’s had with her mental and physical well-being. And Gaines has not let up much, either. On June 14, she took a jab at Biles while announcing at an event hosted by conservative nonprofit Turning Point USA that she and husband Louis Barker are expecting a child. “[Biles] saying, ‘Bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a man’ … How many men do you know that have this?” Gaines told the crowd while cradling her stomach and holding up a series of sonogram images.
Monica Cwynar, a licensed clinical social worker with Thriveworks who specializes in trauma and coping skills, said that Gaines’ latest attack about Biles possibly shuttering her X account appeared to be an “unnecessary jab” at Biles in a “vulnerable moment.” “It feels like piling on when one person is already down. What does Gaines want from stating this, beyond trying to bring more negative attention to Biles?” she told HuffPost. And while Biles has not released a statement on why her X account is not currently active, Cwynar said that given Biles’ past struggles with mental health, Gaines’ behavior “could indeed exacerbate the situation, potentially causing further harm to Biles’ mental well-being.”
In the end, the right-wing activist’s jab at Simone Biles did more to spotlight her bravery than to tarnish her name. The criticism — hollow and mean-spirited — only reminded the world of what Biles truly represents: resilience, honesty, and a new kind of strength. Her silence isn’t weakness. It’s wisdom.
