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WNBA players dijon carrington After receiving a flurry of backlash for wearing a shirt that read “Donald Trump on Tour,” conservative influencer Riley Gaines quickly got on board.
Carrington showed off the shirt Friday while walking into Wayfair Arena in Miami, Florida. Carrington is known for his interactions with women’s basketball talent Caitlin Clark Clark during his 2024 WNBA rookie season.
In September, during a first-round playoff game between Clark’s Indiana Fever and Carrington’s Connecticut Sun, Carrington infamously poked Clark in the eye with his fingernail, leaving Clark bruised. Obvious. Carrington laughed alongside Fever teammate Marina Mabray after the incident.
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Gaines downplayed it in his first criticism of Carrington on Saturday.
Gaines wrote: “So, you’re telling me that the girl who purposely gouged out Caitlin Clark’s eyes and then laughed was wearing a hoodie that said ‘Fuck, Donald Trump on tour’ ‘? I’m shocked.”
Carrington said she didn’t mean to poke Clark in the eye and didn’t laugh about it. But Gaines unreservedly suggested Carrington’s jab at Clark was intentional, and she laughed it off afterwards.
Gaines then criticized Suns players again, even bringing LeBron James into the conversation.
“What has Donald Trump done to make your life worse? Keep LeBron off the court,” Gaines wrote on X in response to a photo of Carrington wearing the jersey.
Prior to the dizzying incident, Carrington angered Clark’s fans with multiple comments condemning Clark and her fan base.
In a game in June, Carrington fouled Clark after Clark received an inbounds pass from teammate Christy Wallace. Clark caught the pass and started driving toward the basket. Carrington got to Clark late thanks to a screen by Aliyah Boston, who bumped into Clark.
Indiana Fever player Caitlin Clark (right) fouls Connecticut Sun player DiJonai Carrington (21) during the first half at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, on June 10, 2024. . (Brian Fluharty/Getty Images)
Later that month, Carrington Posted on Xsaid Clark should do more to expose “racism” and other forms of bigotry from people using her name. She also called rabid fans the “dirtiest” in the league.
Carrington even downplayed the controversy over Clark’s dark circles in an Instagram Live video in October. In the video, Carrington and her girlfriend, NaLyssa Smith, were in the kitchen when Smith poked Carrington in the eye. Narissa Smith joins Clark at the Indiana Fever game.
“Oh, you poked me in the eye,” Carrington said. Smith apologized and the two laughed.
“Did you do it on purpose?” Carrington asked.
Carrington also isn’t the first target of Gaines’ ire when it comes to Clark’s performance in the WNBA.
after clark Posted a comment During an interview with TIME’s Athlete of the Year, Gaines discussed benefiting from white privilege in the WNBA and got into a heated argument with reporter Jemele Hill.
After Gaines posted on X criticizing Clark’s comments, Hill took up the debate and eventually made it personal.
“You keep yelling about supporting and ‘protecting’ women, yet the moment Caitlin Clark expresses appreciation and respect for black women in the WNBA, many of whom she grew up watching and idolizing, you Suddenly acting like a disappointed parent,” Hill wrote.
Riley Gaines is sworn in during a hearing of the House Healthcare and Financial Services Oversight Subcommittee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, December 5, 2023 (Drew Angler/Getty Images)
Gaines quickly fired back, mocking the notion of “white privilege” in the WNBA in response to Hill’s post.
“The ‘white privilege’ in the WNBA is hilarious indeed. Maybe you’re like Sunny Hostin and think CC also has the privilege of being tall, privilege of being pretty, and privilege of being straight,” Gaines wrote . “There are a lot of black players in the WNBA that I like (and) respect, but I don’t admire them because they’re black. I admire their game. That’s the difference.”
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Gaines then doubled down, sharing Hill’s original post and attaching a screenshot of the reporter’s comments during an interview with the Los Angeles Times in May. In that article, Hill insisted that Clark’s race and sexual orientation as a heterosexual woman did not affect her popularity in the WNBA, which was “naive” because the majority of the WNBA’s players are black , and many players are lesbians.
Gaines responded to Hill by saying, “It must be exhausting to be a long-time professional race-baiter.”
After Gaines commented that Hill was a pro-race firebrand, Hill responded with a message mocking the former swimmer’s tie with transgender athlete Leah Thomas at the 2022 NCAA Women’s Swimming Championships .
“Girl, you need to thank Leah Thomas every day for helping you get famous, otherwise you’d be just a decent college swimmer that no one knows about. You wrote a book about a scam, not me,” Hill wrote road.
Former President Donald Trump attends the Conservative Political Action Conference with Riley Gaines on August 6, 2022 in Dallas, Texas. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)
Gaines responded: “How regressive (and) downright misogynistic it is for Jemele Hill to tell me to thank a man for giving me a platform. Thank him for what? For violating us in the locker room?” Stealing a national title from a deserving woman? Indirectly taking away our 1A rights? Just say you hate women,” Gaines wrote in response.
This is the last message in the exchange.
Gaines has also chosen to fight other liberals online, including New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Dallas Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban.
Gaines’ every spat with liberals was met with enthusiastic participation from her followers.
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