Riley Gaines reveals how she was PUNCHED twice by a transgender woman – and blames Joe Biden

College swimming champion Riley Gaines has recounted how she was beaten twice by a trans activist during a terrifying attack on a college campus — and blamed the White House for “betraying” women.

In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com’s Maureen Callahan, 22-year-old Gaines recounted how her attacker — who she says was a transgender woman — punched her first in the shoulder and then in the face before an undercover campus cop came to her rescue. came.

The swimmer said she was barricaded in a room at San Francisco State University for three hours to protect herself from the “vengeful” mob that demanded they be let in to “fight” her. San Francisco police said there were no arrests.

Gaines also turned to her anger at the Biden administration for suggesting that the trans community is under threat when it is women who are attacked.

In an extended interview, Gaines responded to proposals from the president that would mean misrepresenting someone could be considered sexual harassment — and accused the White House of harboring a narrative that has encouraged violence and threats against women.

“I think this story is built because we have people in administrative positions, whether it’s on universities or college campuses, or even the Biden administration… saying the trans community is under threat,” she said.

“So I think they like to think they’re being persecuted all the time… But in my experience… I’ve always been on the receiving end of that hatred.”

The swimmer was speaking as she returned to her home in Nashville Thursday night after a lecture on women’s rights in college.

But the event was hijacked by about 100 protesters who stormed the campus.

Gaines said the talk itself, which started around 7:30 p.m., was “really awesome,” with 75 attendees respectfully sharing differing opinions about transgender athletes in the sport.

But as she left the room where the talk was being held, she was ambushed by angry trans activists, who stormed into the venue from the hallway outside.

“Suddenly, ambushes roll in, tons,” she said. “They immediately run to the front of the room I’m in, so I’m kind of cornered on a stage right now.

They’re yelling in my face. This is the point where I got hit twice… I think I was aiming for my shoulder both times, but the first hit me on the shoulder and the second it scraped my face.”

Gaines said she thought she had been punched with a closed fist by the transgender woman, before demonstrating the upward thrusting motion used.

‘I’m not quite sure if that’s the case [her first] was closed or open, but it was 100 percent intentional,” she added.

The swimmer said she was then taken away by an undercover campus police officer, but was met by “an even larger crowd” of protesters coming from both directions.

“Because there was no obvious exit from this hallway, we were forced into a side room… where we basically locked ourselves in for three hours,” she said.

Gaines said the protesters stayed outside the room the entire time, “yelling and shouting vulgar and violent things.”

“They were screaming that revenge would come, that this is a fight and that I am using my white privilege. There were threats, intimidation. They kept saying, ‘Open the door. Let’s go to Riley. We want to fight her.’

“Many of them are, in a sense, empty threats, but at the same time you have to fear a little for your safety in such a situation.”

She said the protesters were “obviously unhinged” and “vengeful.” “It was violent and not progressive,” she added.

Gaines defended those who had come to protest peacefully, saying she had no problem with people shouting “trans women are women,” but said inciting violence was never acceptable.

She said she regularly received violent threats prior to lecturing at universities and blamed the Biden administration for her stance on transgender issues.

She pointed to comments by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre suggesting that the trans community in America was “under attack” in the wake of a shooting at a Nashville school by a transgender former student.

Gaines said, “In my experience, I have never said anything threatening or hateful to the trans-identifying person or anyone in the LGBT community.

“I’ve always been on the receiving end of that hate, and I think it’s a little ironic, because it comes from the party that claims to be tolerant and accepting and loving and welcoming.”

She also referenced her experience competing against transgender swimmer Lia Thomas and seeing Thomas’s male genatalia in the locker room in the context of changes to Title IX being pursued by the White House, which would mean someone was a wrong gender. gets – refusing to use someone’s preferred pronouns – can be considered sexual harassment.

“It felt like this person might have been arrested two years ago for decency exposure, voyeurism, sexual harassment… But now we’re the ones doing the sexual harassment.”

Speaking of meeting Thomas in the women’s locker room, she said, “Of course you’re clumsy. It’s humiliating. It’s uncomfortable. It felt like belittling, but most of all it was betrayal.

“The people who were supposed to protect us didn’t protect us. It’s heartbreaking.

“We must not lose the ability to consent in areas where we undress where we are exposed and expose ourselves to the opposite sex.”

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy earlier Friday condemned the incident as “an appalling attack on free speech on a college campus.”

He tweeted, “House Republicans stand with Riley Gaines and her courageous and tireless efforts to protect women’s sports.”

The San Francisco Police Department said it was investigating the incident, but there were “no arrests related to the event.”

A spokesperson added, “The outage occurred after the event ended, forcing UPD agents to move the event speaker from the room to another, safe location.”