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The Riley Gaines Show
Behind the Scenes: Supreme Court to the White House | The Riley Gaines Show
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- [00:00]
A
It's the final chapter of the College Football Playoff comes down to this. Miami's unmatched grit and tenacity through the postseason has led them home. The national title. Now within reach, they are confident they are battle tested. Undefeated Indiana, led by Chris Signetti and Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza, have the chance to take home their first title and claim college football immortality. The most remarkable turnaround in the history of college football. The College Football Playoff national championship. Presented by AT&T Monday at 7:30pm Eastern on ESPN and the ESPN app.
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Hey guys, if you're watching on YouTube.com right now, which I hope you are, you can clearly tell that I am not in my home studio. I am actually filming today's episode from the DCA airport. It has been a whirlwind of a week. I cannot wait to take you guys kind of behind the scenes in today's episode. We started the week in Washington D.C. on the Supreme Court steps. Then we went to Florida, then we went to New York, then we came back to Washington D.C. all with a three month old or I guess really three and a half month old baby. We didn't really plan for the trip to New York or the second trip to Washington D.C. so we definitely did not bring enough diapers or wipes. So you can imagine me and Louie pushing the stroller down Times Square, having to go into a CVS to buy diapers and wipes for Margot. But it's New York, so the diapers are behind like an anti theft cage because who doesn't want to steal diapers, right? We have to go get the employee. She comes back with the keys, she opens it, we get diapers. It's just been crazy. Welcome to Mom Donnie's New York City, where he promises free stuff yet keeps things behind locked cages. And the second trip back to D.C. was for an amazing and totally sporadic opportunity where I got to sit in the new media press seat during Caroline's press briefing. But, but before I tell you about what the White House was like, let's go back to Monday, the Supreme Court. I hope you guys listened to Wednesday's episode. If you haven't, I encourage you to go back and listen to it. I provide a little bit of context and clarity about what the Supreme Court was ultimately going to be hearing and soon ruling on. I did that with a beautiful young girl by the name of Adelaia Cross. When she was in middle school, she competed against one of the boys who was one of the plaintiffs in the West Virginia case. It was actually the state of West Virginia versus bpj. Not only did Adelaide lose out on opportunities and does she speak to that on the episode of how defeating that feels, the feelings of betrayal that she had, but she also alleges that she was sexually harassed by this same boy in the locker room, an intimate area of undressing as a middle school age girl. The things that he allegedly said to her were so profane and heinous and vulgar. I'm not even going to repeat it on this because I don't want YouTube to take this episode down. So I encourage you to go back and listen to Wednesday's episode for a little bit of context on what the Supreme Court was ruling on or I guess will soon rule on. Here's what I will say there aren't ruling on if states must protect women, if they must abide by federal law, that federal law being Title 9. It's not that at all. They're ruling on soon to rule on if states even can have protections for women insane in the year 2026. As women we're fighting for, I mean equality. That's what we're fighting for. That's what we were demanding on the Supreme Court steps. So absolutely wild. We have to be there. But I explained this on Wednesday's episode as well. What the oral arguments really felt like to me is like the pinnacle of everything that we had previously been fighting for, or I'll speak for myself, everything that I'd been fighting for for, you know, the past nearly four years now. I have been long awaiting the day where the Supreme Court would Hear A Title 9 case in this regard. So excitement, joyous. But there's a level of frustration that we even have to be there. So to describe to you guys what it was like on the ground, there were two groups, right? You have the pro woman group, or you can call it the pro reality, pro truth, pro fairness, pro safety, pro sex based rights, pro science. What happened to follow the science that the pro woman group was here and then you have the pro trans group, the pro men and women's sports group, the pro child butchery group. You get it, right? There wasn't even really 50ft within our two rallies. This surprised me. Honestly. I thought there would be more security measures in place to prevent us from intermingling, I guess, with one another. But there weren't. And I'm happy to report, at least from what I saw and what I've seen online following this, I don't think there was any crazy altercation, which of course is a good thing. Another thing you Saw visually being there on the Supreme Court steps, there were so many more people, in terms of sheer volume, like density, population, that were there for the pro black woman rally, as opposed to the pro trans rally, which again, this was kind of a shocking revelation to me. We haven't seen this really thus far. Yes, certainly we know how the public feels about these issues and we know that the public overwhelmingly supports the idea that men should not be in women's sports. But when you're at events like this, you'd be hard pressed to have a larger turnout than the pro trans side. And I think, you know, there's an array of reasons as to why that is, number one, the pro trans side oftentimes, and there I have proof of this. I've seen it especially in different states, at state legislative bodies, they're oftentimes paid to be there and to be protesting. You have to also consider this was a work day. Most people are working, which typically we have problems on our side, getting people out in the middle of a workday because they have jobs and they have families and they have other things going on. So I was thrilled to see so many people who cared so deeply and so passionately to be there on the ground supporting women. And again, what is true, what is right, what is fair, what is just, you wouldn't have seen that even two years ago. So I think it represents more than, you know, what we saw visually. It represents, I believe, a huge shift in the cultural tide and I think President Trump largely is to thank for that. His boldness and his willingness to go after those who seek to destroy our protections. It provides a lot of COVID to people to say the once deemed, even honestly still deemed controversial thing, that men can't become women and vice versa, that there are two sexes, that you can't change your sex, that each sex is deserving of equal opportunity, of privacy and of safety. Still, speaking about some of the very stark differences that I saw between the two groups on the pro woman side, we opened our rally in prayer. Actually, it was Elizabeth Eddy, who is a professional soccer player. She played for the nwsl. She's played right alongside people like Megan Rapinoe, which we're going to talk about Megan Rapinoe in a minute. But she opened the rally in a really beautiful prayer, acknowledging, yes, of course, that our side is rooted in biological truth, objective truth, but more importantly, rooted in biblical truth. And it goes back to the very first book. He created them, male and female, intentionally and uniquely in his perfect image. We saw American flags waving on our Side, we saw moms with their young daughters, like, you know, eight year old girls who were there, who probably got to skip school to be there. And they're holding signs and they're smiling ear to ear because I think even they understood the stakes of what was being heard inside the courtroom, you know, just 20 yards behind us. I would describe our side very much as happy warriors. And one other thing I want to mention, it wasn't a specific demographic of person who was there. You saw men, you saw women, you saw old, young, white, black. It was actually super cool. I met and got to spend some time talking to a group of what they called themselves as lifelong liberal atheist lesbians. I hope I got that right. You know, we might not have a whole lot in common on our political views, but even still, it was amazing to be able to link arms, put all the other things aside, link arms, stand there together and advocate for what's true. I've got a sign that I saw on the rally on screen right now. It says democrats for an informed approach to gender. Which I love this. And I think it highlights how this really is a unifying issue, despite how people like AOC or really elected representation in general and certainly mainstream media, legacy media, portrays this issue. If you a unifying one. Now compare this to the other side that did not start their rally in prayer. They were waving a flag that says the Satanic Circle. I saw sick, demented, evil people supporting a sick, demented, evil ideology. I saw many people who I, I believe could have been arrested for public indecency with their outfit choices. It was like a borderline strip club slash drag show. My husband actually went over into their rally, came back and he said he felt like he needed to be baptized afterwards. And on their faces, I didn't really see smiles. I saw anger. I saw vitriol. I saw yelling and screeching. There were several signs that I saw. I believe one said, change your heart or die. These are the people who claim to be tolerant and loving and accepting and embracing of diversity and welcoming. Here's another sign, I put it on screen here that says gop and it says Genital Obsession Obsessed pervs. So I guess you got to give them creativity points there. I mentioned we had Elizabeth Eddy speaking on our side. I think she played professional soccer for like 11 years. We had Sharon Davies, who competed in her first Olympic Games at 13 or 14 years old. She's an Olympic silver medalist. Tons of high level female athletes. But I still am scratching my head like, how do we not have more high Level, I think especially professional athletes who are willing to say the women's sports category should be protected. Really? Following the rally, we have seen this go the other way. We've got a clip of Megan Rapinoe. Let's play it here. When you're young, you believe that you can do anything, and then the world tries to set limits for you, tell you what's allowed, what's normal, who you're supposed to be. But on the field, the track, the court, here, you get to be exactly who you are. Because at our core, we're still the kids who just want to play the.
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A
Go big, game changer, the living, breathing fabric of this country. Supporting trans youth isn't just about sports.
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B
It's about freedom on and off the field. It's more than a game. So this is an ad for the aclu. I have a lot of things to say here. First and foremost, they talk about, you know, just wanting to play. Let me clear up a misconception because I see this in the headlines all the time about states like Tennessee or Florida or Texas wanting to ban trans athletes. No one is banning trans athletes. Nobody. Nobody wants that. I don't want that. Hear me when I say I am the biggest proponent of people playing sports, everyone playing sports, regardless of any identity factor, regardless of your sexual orientation, regardless of your gender identity. I think you should be playing sports because there are so many great benefits to playing sports. It's what taught me how to be a leader, and it's what taught me how to set goals and work to achieve those goals. It's taught me how to understand how some things matter more than just yourself. Like, these are skill sets that I develop because of sports, that I will utilize, that I use. Utilize, of course, in my time in athletics, but far beyond that, I'm utilizing them in my career now. No one should be denied of that. Okay, so to say that we are advocating for a ban on trans athletes is totally false. Just compete in the category that aligns with your sex. So both of these boys and these two landmark cases that were being heard before the Supreme Court can and should compete with the boys. And you've got Megan Rapinoe. This is a woman who has benefited immensely from women's sports. No one would know who Megan Rapinoe is, whether that's a good thing or bad thing, if it weren't for the women's sports category. How can she, as a woman now advocate for other women to not have the same opportunities that she had? Right. Like, I think we call this pulling up the ladder behind you. That's what Megan Rapinoe is doing here. And it's funny to me that she has waited until her career has been over to now take this stance. And the U.S. women's National Soccer team, which Megan Rapinoe was very much a part of, lost 5 to 2 to a 15 and under boys high school soccer team. So if that right there doesn't tell you that there are biological differences, 15 year old boys beat the best, best women in not even just the country in the world. I really never heard Megan Rapinoe speak about that. I remain very optimistic that we will see a favorable ruling from the Supreme Court. After the Supreme Court, the next day I was in New York where I sat on the couch with the girls and Bill Himmer of Outnumbered, which was so much fun. But there was this clip that surprisingly went viral and has become now controversial. Let's play it here. The Supreme Court steps and honestly, like just as you said, like honest, there's a level of emotion to it, especially when you have to consider the fact you have a three month old baby that you have to wrap in a bulletproof blanket because of the threats that were present there yesterday. Yeah, that is who we're fighting for. And all these, these Democrats and their insane policies and the things they say and the things they support. I think 130 congressional Democrats signed a brief supporting the boys in the case. They think they're giving the middle finger to President Trump. That's not who they're giving the middle finger to. They are giving the middle finger to my little baby girl. Again, who you have to wrap in like a little bulletproof vest. So it's true. Margo was at the Supreme Court with me. My husband was there as well. So was a team of security detail obviously entrusted to keep me and my family safe. I can understand the criticism truthfully, like very self aware person. I'm able to read it, digest it, understand it. And I do understand where people are coming from of, you know, why would you even potentially put your child in harm's way? I've seen people online commenting, you know, why didn't you just leave the baby at home? Or why don't you bring a babysitter? Well, it's not as easy as that when you're breastfeeding. Right. And I wasn't going home for many, many days. People said, well, why didn't you bring your mom with you? My mom has a job too. So like, logistically it just didn't make sense. I guess one thing that could have been done was my husband stay back in the hotel room with her. But again, breastfeeding, like, logistically, it really didn't make much sense. And so upon talking to security detail, we were able to assess the threats that I'd received. Most of them through social media, Kind of weed out what seemed credible, what didn't seem credible. And we ultimately ruled that it would be okay if Margot came. And as far as the bulletproof blanket goes, it was. It was like a bulletproof little shield thing, and we kind of just wrapped it around her. And my husband wore a carrier, which was really cute. He was kind of playing like Mr. Mom with the baby in the carrier and the bulletproof shield blanket plate thing kind of wrapped around her. I would have never. My mind would have never even gone to do something like this prior to September 10th, where we watched as Charlie Kirk was assassinated in front of thousands, where it will live on the Internet forever. How do we have such short memories that we forgot this just happened by someone who was, I guess, enthralled by the same ideology that I'm fighting against. So that's where the precautionary measure came from on our end. And again, we consulted security details on this matter. And if you followed me for any amount of time on Instagram, on X, on this, the show, on TikTok, then you know that Margo goes everywhere with me. I mean, it's really as simple as that. Like, she goes everywhere that I go, whether it's the Supreme Court, whether it's to go get my nails done or my hair done. Like, Margot is there with me. I think the best way to describe our approach to parenting, especially in these first few months, and I know things may change, especially as she gets older and more mobile, but for now, she's portable and she's adaptable and she's resilient. And so why would I not bring her everywhere that I go? So I guess my final thoughts here on the criticism that I received. Look, I do understand where people are coming from. It's the same thing I heard, actually, when I swam Alcatraz at seven months pregnant. The amount of people who commented on my social media saying, you know, like, you're just using that your pregnancy as an attempt to get clicks and likes, and you're putting your baby in harm's way. Oh, my gosh. I was pregnant, not disabled, first of all. But nonetheless, I'm able to read the criticism, understand maybe people's intentions behind it. But at the end of the day, the problem should not be Myself and my husband bringing our baby with us to a very public place. Right, like the Supreme. I mean, it's exclusive to a degree, but a public place, the steps of the Supreme Court, that should not be the problem. The problem should be the people who would love nothing more than to harm myself, my child, my husband, the things that, that we love, the things that we care about very deeply. The people who make these threats because they think it's okay to make these threats. That's the problem in this scenario. Not me bringing my baby alongside with me to a very public event. That is not a riot, by the way. Neither myself nor my husband would ever intentionally put our daughter in harm's way. Right, but we're not going to lock her in a tower like Rapunzel. If she could be there with us, and it means we have to take extra security or precautionary measures to make sure that she's there and she's safe, then by all means we're going to do that. That's exactly what we did. One thing about me is I am very much like a poster and ghoster, meaning I'll post online and then I won't get on my phone for, you know, several hours. So it wasn't until the next day I was scrolling on X and I saw where Candace Owens weighed into the criticism. She says, I'm so happy you said the quiet part out loud. It's giving my 3 year old daughter burst into tears when I had to explain to her why society isn't ready to let a woman like Hillary Clinton be president. Vibes, manipulative and gross. To use your kids as a prop. Candace Owens. Calling anyone manipulative is so rich. But I'm not even going to go there. I'm going to address the point where she says I'm using my child as a prop. That is certainly not my intention behind bringing my daughter with me as a breastfeeding mom, bringing my three month old with me in public places, that, that is of course never my intention. She went to New York with me, she went to Florida with me, she went back to D.C. with me again because we go places together as a family. She's not a prop, but she is my why. And I'm not ashamed of that. I will never be ashamed of that. Like I feel immense pride being her mom. There is nothing more rewarding or fulfilling or purposeful than being a mom and being her mom. So you can say you wouldn't have done that with your children, that's fine. We can have different parenting styles. But to say it's manipulative and gross to bring my 3 month old baby in a public place where both of her parents are, I think that's really, really rich. And she says, you know, I'm happy you're saying the quiet part out loud. I don't even really understand like what she's getting at there. I wasn't saying anything in that clip that I showed you guys that I haven't been saying for, I mean, for years now and especially since I've had her. So there was no quiet part that was being said out loud. Maybe she wasn't listening, which is fine. I'm not sitting here saying Candace has to follow every single thing that I do. Or of course not. I would never expect that. But what I said, there is nothing different than what I have been saying for years. She is my why. I will continue to fight for her and she'll continue to be alongside me. So long as. Again, assessing the situation with security, we feel as if it's a relatively safe bet. Of course, nothing is for certain. I mean, Charlie Kirk probably didn't assume that he was going to lose his life that day. Despite what Candace may say. I think she's now come out and said that he's like a time traveler. I can't really keep up with that. So there's never a for certain right. Only God knows what is going to happen. But we felt safe with her being there while still taking precautionary measures because the other side is unhinged and crazy. Now let's get into oral arguments. How amazing is it that you have a team of lawyers there with the ACLU who, who couldn't seem to define sex? Watch this.
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C
Is it not necessary for there to be, for equal protection purposes if that is challenged under the equal protection clause, an understanding of what it means to be a boy or a girl or a man or a woman?
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D
Yes, your honor.
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C
And what is that definition for equal protection purposes? What does, what does it mean to be a boy or a girl or a man or a woman?
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D
Sorry, I misunderstood your question. I think that the underlying enactment, whatever it was, the policy, the law, the. Would have to. We'd have to have an understanding of how the state or the government was understanding that term to figure out whether or not someone was excluded. We do not have a definition for the court, and we don't take issue with the. We're not disputing the definition here. What we're saying is that the way it applies in practice is to exclude birth sex males categorically from women's teams, and that there's a subset of those birth sex males where it doesn't make sense to do so according to the state's own interest.
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C
Well, how can you, how can a court determine whether there's discrimination on the basis of sex without knowing what sex means for equal protection purposes?
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I think here we just know that. We basically know that the, that they've identified pursuant to their own statute.
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B
They were there to literally talk about sex based rights and why they're necessary or I guess on their behalf, why they don't believe that they're necessary. And they don't have a definition for simple words like man, woman, girl, boy, male, female, defining sex itself. This is the Supreme Court, the highest court, and they don't have a definition. It was in 2022 where that clip went viral of Justice Ketanji Brown, Jackson, Senator Blackburn asking her whether as a woman, she didn't have an answer. I cannot understand how in the year 2026, all of the, the best and brightest minds of the Democratic Party, how have they not gotten together in one room? I can picture it now, right? Especially the women, right? Aoc, Jasmine Crockett, Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi, all in one room. How have they not, even if it's a totally bogus answer, how have they not come up with a answer for the question of what is a woman? You have to imagine that it was inevitably going to be asked to these lawyers and they still didn't have an answer. These are embarrassingly unserious people. And one more point I want to make about the oral arguments. The fact that the term cisgender is being used in the Supreme Court is incredibly infuriating. I'm so sick of these words. Sick of things like, gentlemen, gender identity and cisgender and your sex being assigned at birth. It's not a cubicle you sit at in an office. You're not assigned a sex like you are assigned a cubicle. Your sex can be recorded at birth. Really, it's recorded before that. It can be observed at birth, but it is not assigned at birth. I hate having to listen to these justices say biological women, biological females, as if there's an unbiological alternative to being a woman. That was one of my main takeaways. After listening, I am so desperate for clear sex based language that everyone can understand. I can't even tell you how many times my grandma will send me an article and have questions for me, you know, saying this says trans woman, but it uses she Pronouns. Is it a man who identifies as a woman or a woman who identifies as a man? And honestly, half the time I'm confused. We're desperate for clear sex based language. So if you're listening to this, this is my plea. Do not mince your words. It's not necessary, actually. It's confusing and it's harmful to women when you do that. There is no such thing as a trans girl. Trans boy. It's just boy. It's just girl. Use sex based pronouns. People are desperate for it. And if all that before the supreme court wasn't enough, how about Senator Hawley questioning a doctor, a certified obgyn, a doctor of women's health, of pregnant women, who was asked 11 times, if men can get pregnant. Watch this.
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A
Can men get pregnant again?
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The reason I paused there is I'm not really sure what the goal of the question.
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The goal is just to establish a biological reality. You just said a moment ago that science and evidence should control, not politics. So let's just test that proposition. Can men get pregnant?
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E
I take care of people with many identities, but can men get pregnant? Many women that can get pregnant, I do take care of people that don't identify as women. Can men get pregnant again, as I'm saying.
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B
All right, cut the tape. You get it now. Like that went on for five minutes. He spent his entire time questioning this woman again. Asked her 11 times, can men get pregnant? Which she could not answer. How terrifying that a doctor, someone who went to medical school, someone who is entrusted with your health care, cannot answer the question if a man can get pregnant. I wonder what she would say to the question of do women need prostate exams? She claims it's being politicized, but the only one politicizing Senator Hawley's very straightforward, simple question was her. If you cannot emphatically say which, it doesn't matter if you're a doctor. It doesn't matter if you're the leader of the democratic party. It doesn't matter if you're a fifth grader. If you cannot emphatically say that men cannot become pregnant with no hesitation, with full confidence, then I will not believe a single word that comes out of your mouth on any topic because you have zero credibility. We are talking about the foundation of humanity, man and woman. It's how every single person on this planet is here from man and woman, and we're being asked to deny that. That is a really terrifying thought. So I encourage all of you to ask your caregiver, ask your healthcare provider, if you're A pregnant woman. Ask your OBGYN if they believe that men can get pregnant at your next exam healthcare visit. And if they can't give you a biologically truthful answer, then I would encourage you to walk out and find a new physician or ob GYN now to speak to you guys about the new media seat opportunity that I had. It was one of the coolest experiences I think I've ever had. And we've now at this point done a lot of cool things, met a lot of cool people, been amazing places. But this one, it really takes the cake. You go into the White House and you see the press briefing room online. Maybe if you're watching on Fox News, it looks pretty packed. Oh my gosh. We walked in, all the press was already sat in the room, which they were packed in like sardines. So many people are anxious, chomping at the bit to be able to listen to Caroline and kind of get that first little clip out there. So. So the room was packed with cameras, reporters, people with their notepads and pens, laptops open, left leaning, right leaning, everything in between. And we walk in, Me, Louie, baby, Margo, because again, we do things together. And you could just see especially the faces of reporters from left leaning outlets, kind of like their jaws drop a little bit like, oh, what is she doing here? Which is like often a question I'm asking myself, like, oh my gosh, what am I doing here? And we've talked about it before where it has been a priority of mine, mine and my husband's really mostly my husband's actually to make sure Margot, her face isn't shown on social media because we're not using her as a prop. But when we walked in, I don't, I don't think either of us were fully prepared for that many cameras to be in the room. And so it was immediately kind of like turning her head to the back of the cameras so no one could see her face, Which I actually think we did a pretty good job of that. I was able to spend a few minutes with Caroline before walking out there and I asked her, you know, is there anything you want me to ask? And she said, look, you can throw anything my way. Like, we're prepared, we're ready, nothing is off limits. Which I thought that was really cool. And it speaks how confident she is in her role, of course, but also how much she believes her relationship with the President as well. And so I thought that was pretty amazing. And so I was able to ask her specifically about SCOTUS and what would be the action that the administration would take against this states who don't uphold federal law. Following what I believe will be a favorable ruling later in the year, she reassured me personally. She reassured every reporter in the room and all the people watching online that the president would get involved in any means necessary to any state or institution not following federal law, even if that means bringing down the full hammer of justice alongside the doj. So that was pretty cool. And when we first walked into the White House prior to the briefing, I immediately saw Secretary Hegseth, which was crazy. I've known him, of course, since his time at Fox and then to transition into this role. But even before that, we're from the same hometown. And so I got to see him and chat with him for a bit. He got to meet baby Margo. We talked for probably five, 10 minutes. And immediately upon leaving the press briefing room, we ran into Chuck Schumer in the White House, which actually he had some pretty kind things to say about Margo. He stopped and talked to her for a bit and said, said that she's just the cutest little baby. And then we saw Tom Homan, which he to me, is one of my favorite Trump picks because he's just a normal person. Like, I think, you know, I don't know him personally very well, but based on what I can conclude from his interviews, how he conducts himself, even the words that he uses, like, he's just a normal guy who is frustrated with the direction of the country and was willing to do whatever he needed to do to step up and take action. So those are just a few of the people that you may see upon walking into the White House on a random Thursday afternoon. Pete Hexa, Tom Homan, and Chuck Schumer. I'm hopeful we'll have another opportunity to be back in the press briefing room soon and would love to get Caroline on this show. We talked about it when we were together, so hopefully we can expect to see her on the Riley Gaines show soon. Appreciate you guys for tuning in. We have some exciting stuff coming for next week, so make sure you like, subscribe, comment, follow along on our Instagram. It is Riley Gaines show and we'll see you next week.