Keith Olbermann, a one-time sports broadcaster who was let go from ESPN and also failed at being a host on MSNBC, was savaged online after he attacked former collegiate champion swimmer-turned-women in sports advocate Riley Gaines.
“Can you just address the reality and move past it?” Olbermann wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “You sucked at swimming. That’s why you lost.”
In actuality, she famously tied with transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, a biological male who swam for the University of Pennsylvania.
The failed broadcaster responded to an X post from Gaines in which she defended a “Women’s Bill of Rights,” which states an obvious and long-known biological fact that, on average, “males and females possess immutable biological differences.”
The measure was signed by Nebraska GOP Gov. Jim Pillen, the second governor to establish a “Women’s Bill of Rights,” telling residents on Wednesday that it is “common sense that men do not belong in women’s only spaces.”
Gaines herself led the charge against Olbermann.
“Ah, makes sense now why you got fired from ESPN,” she wrote on the platform.
“Your political bias blinds you and dismissive views like yours embolden men to change in front of us,” noted former University of Pennsylvania swimmer Paula Scanlan. “Why don’t you address the reality that women’s spaces are being invaded and many women are harmed by this narrative.”
Your political bias blinds you and dismissive views like yours embolden men to change in front of us. Why don’t you address the reality that women’s spaces are being invaded and many women are harmed by this narrative. https://t.co/jxWNTvYCEV
— Paula Scanlan (@PaulaYScanlan) August 31, 2023
Scanlan, who was on Thomas’ swim squad, also became a women in sports advocate after being forced to change in front of him in locker rooms before and after competitions.
Fox News added:
Prof. Emeritus Colin Wight shared a link to Gaines’ swim résumé, which included an award from the SEC for “Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year,” 2022 “All America in 200 free” award and even an “Olympic Trials qualifier” in 2021.
“The reality is staring you in the face,” Wight told the tormentor. “And you’re a nasty ignorant man. Sucked at swimming.”
The reality is staring you in the face. And you’re a nasty ignorant man. Sucked at swimming. https://t.co/GxcTCp4kXt
— Colin Wight (@colwight) August 31, 2023
Washington Examiner contributor Kimberly Ross also lashed out at Olbermann and called him a sexist.
“I’m sorry? Your statement should be directed toward a dude named Lia Thomas. He sucks at swimming against biological males so much so that he decided to identify as female just so he could win. How sexist and sad. Both you and ‘Lia,'” she wrote.
