Former collegiate champion swimmer and transgender activist Lia Thomas had social media buzzing this week when a photograph surfaced appearing to show her wearing a shirt that says “Antifa Super Soldier.”
The shirt was almost certainly a joke designed to mock conservatives who take the phrase seriously. And it seems that former collegiate swimmer and anti-trans activist Riley Gaines has taken the bait, as Gaines responded to the shirt with a tweet of her own.
“Doesn’t this make so much make sense…. I haven’t specifically bashed Lia Thomas on anything (other than calling him an entitled narcissist which I stand by) because ultimately he was following the rules in place. But this is disturbing,” Gaines said in a tweet, intentionally misgendering Thomas multiple times in the tweet.
Doesn't this make so much make sense….
I haven't specifically bashed Lia Thomas on anything (other than calling him an entitled narcissist which I stand by) because ultimately he was following the rules in place. But this is disturbing https://t.co/EHnqkBG1kJ
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) July 17, 2023
The phrase “Antifa Super Soldier” is a reference to a popular Internet meme that mocks conservatives. The phrase originated from a satirical Tweet back in 2017 that many Internet-illiterate right-leaning Twitter users incorrectly feared was a sincere call to violence after failing to understand the sarcasm in the post.
It appears that Gaines has fallen into the same trap, somehow believing that a meme phrase on a tank top in cartoon bubble letters is “disturbing.”