Trump Changes His Tune On Riley Gaines After AI Controversy & It's So Embarrassing For Her

Donald Trump's oversized ego led to him posting an AI photo of himself as a Jesus-like figure, and it spurred such backlash from across the political spectrum that it ended up getting taken down. One critique came from Riley Gaines, a former University of Kentucky swimmer who has used her fifth-place tie with a transgender athlete to help fuel her work as a conservative political activist. On X, Gaines questioned why Trump posted the controversial image and wrote, "1) a little humility would serve him well 2) God shall not be mocked." But when Trump was asked during a phone interview with CBS News if her critique was one of the reasons that he took the post down, he said, "I didn't listen to Riley Gaines. I'm not a big fan of Riley, actually."

It's a change of tune for Trump. Trump introduced Gaines at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in 2022, and he referred to her as "a great person ... a beautiful, great swimmer," per the Independent). For her part, Gaines has been a staunch supporter of Trump's for years, including speaking at a campaign event for him in 2024.

We aren't entirely surprised that Trump wouldn't be happy with Gaines after she publicly spoke out against him. He seems to prize loyalty above all else, and we've seen Trump basically beg people to love him before. So he couldn't have been happy to hear the criticism, even if it's from someone he says he doesn't listen to. It's not quite the level of drama that we saw with the end of Trump's bromance with Elon Musk, but watching Gaines respond to his clapback has been cringeworthy.

Riley Gaines seems to have heard about Donald Trump essentially dismissing her, and it sounds like she's not one of the close allies who have turned against Trump. She included another X post about the whole situation that started, "I love the President and I'm so grateful he's in the Oval Office. Of course, I'll continue to support him and the America First agenda." She also wrote, "We're imperfect people. I know I am. I don't get my feelings hurt easy and I know with the President it's really not personal."

The replies to her post have been brutal, and "Riley Gaines" even started trending on X. One person said, "Well, dear he doesn't even like you. I'd stop the a** kissing you look like a fool defending a fool." Another posted, "Of course, you have to do damage control after he said he didn't like you." People were left baffled as to why Gaines had doubled down. "Imagine showing this sort of weird loyalty to someone who has stated they despise you? Bizarre...," via X.

When Trump was asked about the AI photo that caused all the drama, he said that instead of making him look like Jesus, he thought it showed him as a doctor. "It's supposed to be me as a doctor making people better, and I do make people better," he explained to reporters at the White House, according to Reuters. That doesn't seem to be how many people, including Gaines, took it.