“She’s absolutely pathetic”: NASCAR fans react to former NCAA swimmer over her controversial pre-race prayer mentioning Donald Trump at COTA

Riley Gaines, a former NCAA swimmer, was met with mixed reviews from NASCAR fans following her pre-race prayer for Sunday's Cup Series race at the Circuit of the Americas. The controversy stems around the swimmer mentioning current United States President Donald Trump in her prayer.

Jon Root, a sports media personality, posted the full video of Gaines' prayer to X. This sparked mixed reviews from race fans, with one giving their unfiltered opinion of both Gaines and Root, writing:

"She's absolutely pathetic! And you must be, too 🙄."

Other fans weren't pleased with Gaines implementing politics into a pre-race prayer, with one X user writing:

"Way to bring politics into a sporting event. That sucked."

"Whatever happened to politics out of sports?" questioned another.

While there were many negative reviews on Gaines' pre-race prayer, there were also many that enjoyed the former collegiate athlete's invocation. One X user wrote:

"@Riley_Gaines_ that was an exceptional prayer today. Many Thanks 🙏"

"Thank you for the fantastic prayer yesterday… God bless you!" wrote another.

One X user also appreciated the sentiment of mentioning Trump in the pre-race prayer, writing:

"She also mentioned President Donald J Trump and his administration. Great invocation!"

Gaines formally swam at the University of Kentucky. After finishing behind Lia Thomas, a transgender athlete, in an NCAA Championship race, Gaines used that as a platform to campaign against the inclusion of transgender women in women's sports. Last month, Trump signed an executive order to prohibit transgender athletes from competing in women's sports.

Donald Trump is the 45th and current 47th United States President. Representing the Republican Party, Trump defeated Democratic candidate and then-Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris in the Presidential election last November. He is one of only two Presidents in U.S. history to serve two non-consecutive terms.

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Donald Trump recently attended the Daytona 500

Like in his first presidential term, Donald Trump made a trip to this year's Daytona 500 amid his second term as President of the United States. Trump formally attended the 2020 Daytona 500 in the last year of his first presidential term.

After his trip to "The Great American Race," Trump penned a message on X to signify what the Daytona 500 meant to not only racing, but to the country as well.

"The @NASCAR Daytona 500 is a timeless tribute to the speed, strength, and unyielding spirit that make America great. THAT SPIRIT IS WHAT WILL FUEL AMERICA’S GOLDEN AGE, and if we harness it, the future is truly ours," President Donald Trump wrote.

Trump isn't the first U.S. President to attend a NASCAR race. Back in 1984, Ronald Reagan gave the command to start engines in the Firecracker 400 at Daytona. It was the day Richard Petty won his 200th career race.