Katie Porter is about likes and clicks — not Riley Gaines
Congresswoman Katie Porter took a cheap shot at former University of Kentucky swimmer, Riley Gaines.
But the punch, ineptly thrown, landed right back in her face.
On Friday, Porter appeared on “Real Time with Bill Maher” and said that Gaines’ crusade to keep women’s sports fair was simply motivated by one thing: “to get likes and get clicks.”
Yes, Porter, a performative politician who blew into Washington, DC, with her gimmicky whiteboard, essentially called Gaines an attention whore.
“Riley is speaking up for herself,” Porter added.
It’s a rich sentiment coming from the California dem. She built her entire career off of creating viral political theatre engineered to elicit social media likes.
In a choreographed bit during the GOP House speaker vote in January, Porter was photographed reading “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F–k” while wearing a bold orange dress to match the book jacket.
Talk about fishing for likes and clicks.
Like an overgrown theatre kid, she certainly knows how to create look-at-me moments for the cameras. (And reportedly, she’s got a dramatic diva temper behind the scenes to match).
And she does it over and over. Unapologetically.
As a result of her theatrics, Porter became a darling of the media with fawning profiles in Vanity Fair, Vogue, Teen Vogue, The Cut, Harper’s Bazaar and Elle to name a few. Her favorite congressional accessory was dubbed “The mighty whiteboard of truth” in the The Guardian, while others have called it the “whiteboard of justice.”
Political celebrity can become a drug and Porter is addicted. Her statement about Gaines was more of a cynical projection. She believes everything is done for the applause — and not out of genuine principle and conviction.
Unlike Porter, Gaines, 23 isn’t chasing cheap thrills by trying to dunk on people.
She hasn’t gotten likes from mainstream media or feminist circles.
She has, however, gotten punched by a man in a dress. As an added bonus, she was held hostage by reality-challenged, science-denying trans activists at San Francisco State University.
That’s the same as an adoring style spread in The Cut, right?
Gaines has actually risked a quiet, normal life to speak out against protecting women’s sports. She’s been unfairly branded a transphobe and has likely forfeited any chance to work in mainstream, corporate America as a result.
She is no provocateur. Her message is simple: keep women’s sports fair. A few years ago, Gaines’ opinion would have been considered banal — and a given with feminists.
But in 2023, many officials can’t even define what a woman is. To even acknowledge biological differences between the sexes is like entering the fast lane on the superhighway to cancellation.
The absurdity is astounding.
Teammates of Thomas and others who were forced to share a locker room with the biological man were only willing to speak anonymously about their discomfort. Gaines bravely took up the mantle as many remained silent.
Broadcasters Sage Steele and finally Sam Ponder are the few women in sports who have publicly supported Gaines.
It’s a lonely spot.
But Gaines knows what it takes to train your entire life, make huge sacrifices to excel in your sport and come up short because a biological man got the go-ahead to jump into the pool.
Porter had little to offer on the subject, other than her snarky remarks.
When you are so accustomed to being fluffed by the media, you think you can skate on lame ad hominem attacks, but when she was challenged by Piers Morgan and Maher, two dudes, she folded.
Porter later said it should be up to the sports’ governing bodies to decide if transgender athletes compete in women’s sports.
So if a governing body ends up agreeing with Gaines, as some thankfully are, I’m sure she will happily issue an apology to the former college athlete.
Until then, the author of “I Swear: Politics is Messier Than My Minivan,” might benefit from listening to people who have been in the pool or the locker room — not dismissing them.
If Porter, who is known for her legal mind, can’t take one look at Thomas and Gaines and see the disparity — and a larger problem coming down the pike — perhaps a simple diagram on a whiteboard would help explain things.
