USA Today Columnist Can't Even Cover Simone Biles' Apology To Riley Gaines Honestly
Dishonesty on Olympian gymnast Simone Biles and swimmer Riley Gaines
USA Today columnist Nancy Armour is at it again.
When Simone Biles launched a personal attack on Riley Gaines last week over Gaines' defense of biological reality, Armour went off the deep end. In a nonensical paragraph designed to support Biles' ridiculous personal attacks on Gaines, she claimed that there is no "scientific evidence" that males have a physical advantage over females.
"There is no scientific evidence that transgender women athletes have a physical advantage over cisgender women athletes, but that hasn’t stopped Gaines from claiming they do," Armour wrote. "She insists they are ‘robbing' cisgender women of places on the podium, and she doesn’t care if it’s a 12- or 22-year-old that she’s putting in harm’s way in this overheated climate where ignorance and violence are celebrated equally."
But even Biles realized her position was so indefensible that it necessitated issuing a public apology that was issued Tuesday. And when covering it, Armour couldn't help but once again deflect, misinform and defend the indefensible.
PARIS, FRANCE - AUGUST 03: Simone Biles of Team United States celebrates after finishing her routine during the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Vault Final on day eight of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on August 03, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
USA Today Columnist Deflects On Simone Biles, Riley Gaines Story
When covering Biles' apology, Armour, writing in USA Today, only referenced specific parts of Biles apology to gloss over the most important sections. Instead, she decided to frame her story as if both Biles' criticism, and hers, was based on the age of the male athletes involved.
"Gaines has made a career out of attacking the participation of transgender women athletes since tying Lia Thomas for fifth place in the 200-yard freestyle at the NCAA championships in 2022. She routinely uses her platform to mock and demean transgender athletes, many of whom are minors," the article says.
Except that's not at all what Biles' initial attack was, nor Armour's ridiculous coverage of it, said. They accused Gaines of being "sick" for standing up for women, fairness, science, and biology. Acting as if this was all because of age is deflection at best and gaslighting at worst.
Armour then brought up, disapprovingly, that Gaines had criticized a Minnesota softball team for using a male pitcher to steamroll their way to a state championship.
"On Friday, Gaines posted about the Champlin Park softball team, which won the Class 4A title in Minnesota," Armour complained. "The team's star pitcher is reportedly transgender, and Gaines referred to her as 'a dude' and said Champlin Park had 'hijacked' the title."
To her, this is an attack, not a statement of fact. But for all her and Biles' fake concern over transgender minors, where's their concern over the young girls whose lives are impacted by this? Why do only male athletes matter? Why should these young girls be forced to give up opportunities, safety or private, women's only spaces to appease young males?
In her apology, Biles ranted about "inclusivity," ignoring that we already have an inclusive category for transgender athletes. Males against males. Females against females. They can happily be included in the category matching their biological sex, because it's the only one that matters, the only one reflecting reality.
But they won't admit that, admit that Biles' attack was unwarranted, because it makes their political party look bad. Unfortunately for them, that's what happens when you choose to deny objective reality.