Riley Gaines slams Lia Thomas 'gaslighting' opponents of trans athletes in women's sports: 'A travesty'

Former NCAA swimmer and IWF spokeswoman Riley Gaines sounds off after an 18-year-old transgender student exposed male genitalia to 14-year-old girls at school and rips Lia Thomas for 'gaslighting' critics. Fox News' Garrett Tenney reports.

Former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines hit back at former competitor Lia Thomas for comments criticizing those who oppose transgender athletes in women's sports during a podcast appearance.

Thomas joined fellow trans swimmer Schuyler Bailar's podcast "Dear Schuyler" Monday and unleashed her criticism of former teammates and 'anti-feminist' opponents of trans athletes in women's sports.

"They're like, 'Oh, we respect Lia as a woman, as a trans woman or whatever. We respect her identity. We just don't think it's fair. You can't really have that sort of half-support," Thomas said during Monday's episode.

"They're using the guise of feminism to sort of push transphobic beliefs," Thomas added.LIA THOMAS CALLS OUT ‘ANTI-FEMINISTS’ FOR PUSHING ‘TRANSPHOBIC BELIEFS,’ SHOWING ‘HALF SUPPORT’ TO TRANS WOMEN

Gaines slammed Thomas for "gaslighting" opponents on "America Reports" Wednesday.

"What Thomas is doing in this podcast is simply gaslighting people into feeling like they're wrong for feeling uncomfortable in the locker room, feeling like they should be okay with stepping aside and smiling and allowing these men to take our spots on the podium, take our titles, take our scholarships, take away our opportunities," she said. 

University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas enters for the 200 Freestyle final during the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships on March 18th, 2022 at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta Georgia.   (Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

SEC champion swimmer