Riley Gaines, Laurel Libby rip Gavin Newsom, Hakeem Jeffries over excuses for trans athletes in women's sports

Republican Maine state Rep. Laurel Libby spoke with OutKick contributor Riley Gaines about her recent lawsuit after being censured for a social media post that sparked a trans athlete inclusion battle. (Credit: Gaines for Girls Podcast on OutKick)

As key Democrat figures throw out excuses for enabling trans athletes in women's sports, conservative critics have capitalized on inconsistent messaging. 

Last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said on his podcast that he believes trans athletes competing in women's sports is "deeply unfair" but defended it to happening legally due to concerns over transgender people as "poor people" who are "more likely to commit suicide, have anxiety and depression." 

When House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was asked about Newsom's comments, Jeffries repeated the unsubstantiated claim that laws preventing trans athletes from girls' sports would "unleash" sexual predators on girls across the country. It was the same argument Jeffries provided when the House of Representatives voted to pass the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act in April. 

Maine state Rep. Laurel Libby, who has recently ascended as a key political figure in the battle to protect female athletes from trans inclusion, spoke out against Newsom and Jeffries in an interview on OutKick's "Gaines for Girls" podcast with Riley Gaines. 

Libby said she believes that Newsom's recent comments "mean nothing."

"I don't think we're going to be seeing Gavin Newsom doing anything about it, and it's the equivalent of ‘which way is the wind blowing here?’" Libby said. "Gavin Newsom is a smart political animal, and he understands that 80% of Americans do not agree with biological males in girls' sports, so he is taking a little bit of