Riley Gaines, host of “The Riley Gaines Show,” criticized USA Today writer Nancy Armour for her controversial column on Caitlin Clark. Armour’s opinion piece compared Emmett Till’s lynching to the alleged danger posed to “Black” and “queer” WNBA players by Clark.

Armour wrote, “It shouldn’t need reminding this country has an awful history of Black people being harmed, even killed, in the name of ‘defending’ White women. The irony of the WNBA’s All-Star Game is that it’s happening this weekend in Chicago, the hometown of Emmett Till, who became an icon of the civil rights movement after his tragic murder.”

She further stated, “The local art gallery is currently hosting an exhibit imagining his life if he hadn’t been lynched. While it’s incumbent on the WNBA to do more to protect its players, there also should be an expectation on Clark to recognize the broader implications of her actions being weaponized.”

Gaines expressed her outrage on a recent episode of her show, describing Armour’s comparison as “the worst one by a mile.” She added, “Do you realize what Nancy Armour is doing there? She’s connecting Emmett Till’s lynching to Caitlin Clark’s talent and skill set and behavior on the basketball court. Excuse me?”

Gaines called the writer “insane” for comparing Till’s lynching to Clark’s actions on the basketball court. Till was a 14-year-old Black teen abducted, tortured, and lynched in 1955 Mississippi after an accusation from a White woman.

Armour later apologized for her column, stating it contained an “inartful comparison.” “In my recent column, I made an inartful comparison with the murder of Emmett Till. I intended to connect the issues the WNBA is currently facing with its All-Star Game being hosted in Till’s hometown of Chicago,” she wrote. “I obviously did not provide enough context for that.”