former president donald trump’s The 2024 campaign continues to paint a bleak vision of America, finding new marginalized groups to target. his attack is transgender In the final run-up to voting day on November 5, rights have emerged as a central focus of his election strategy.
Over the past few weeks, Mr. Trump and his allies have aired ads in key battleground states, promoting misinformation and falsehoods about gender-affirming care, transgender athletes, and public accommodations for transgender people. He has expanded his assertions, all to the detriment of the vice president. kamala harris and the Biden-Harris administration as champions of “extreme” transgender policies. This ad frequently airs during college sports games.
RELATED: Donald Trump claims schools are performing gender reassignment surgeries on transgender children. That’s not true.
One of the most prominent new ads is the one featuring black radio host Charlamagne the God, who was in prison in September during a debate over the effectiveness of Trump’s ads attacking the vice president. He criticized Harris for supporting gender-affirming care for people. The ad includes a clip of Harris spliced from a 2019 interview in which she discusses the use of medically necessary gender reassignment surgery for transgender prisoners. Charlamagne responded to the clip: I don’t want taxpayers’ money to be spent on that kind of thing. ” The ad features Harris supporting “biological males who compete with our girls in sports,” a narrator warns, adding, “Kamala is for them. President Trump is on your side.” ” On Monday, President Trump posted an ad on X (formerly Twitter) with the comment “Coming to a TV near you…”
These ads are just part of President Trump’s larger effort to use transgender issues as a political wedge. According to one source, since August, Republicans have spent more than $65 million on TV ads targeting non-trans communities. new york times analysis.
Republican commentator Scott Jennings appears on CNN on Sunday state of the unionexplained why conservatives place so much emphasis on these issues. “Many men think the Democratic Party cares more about men who want to be women than men who just want to be men,” Jennings said.
By framing it Democratic Party for prioritizing transgender rights over the traditional concerns of working-class men; republican party They hope to energize their base while also attracting support from swing voters.
Another ad, posted on President Trump’s social media platform Truth Social, features a dramatic episode between a fictional Harris Waltz supporter and a homeowner. The ad depicts supporters placing a Harris Waltz campaign sign in a homeowner’s yard, leading to an angry confrontation. The homeowner is clearly upset and expresses frustration with transgender-inclusive policies, focusing specifically on the idea of putting tampons in the men’s room. When asked by a Harris-Waltz supporter why he doesn’t support such a policy, the homeowner angrily retorted: “Because tampons are for women.” Where are they going to stick it? Get their butts up?
The conflict escalates into a heated exchange over pronouns and gender identity. When Harris-Waltz supporters accused homeowners of not calling them by their pronouns, homeowners responded with expletive-filled insults and contempt, mocking the idea of gender inclusivity. The homeowner’s friend joined in, mocking the Harris-Waltz supporter by misgendering him and asking, “What are you?” Is he, she, a fucking transgender? ” Supporters responded derisively by calling themselves Two Spirits, which was also met with scorn.
Jamie Taylor, a professor at the University of Toledo in Ohio who specializes in transgender policy, sees President Trump’s anti-trans messages as a calculated attempt to energize conservative voters who resist changing gender norms. are. In an interview with defenderTaylor said: You attack what is unpopular. Currently, transgender people are relatively unpopular, especially in Republican-leaning groups. Taylor, who is transgender, added that the confusion surrounding non-binary identities further complicates the public’s understanding of transgender issues and makes them easy targets for political exploitation. “The addition of non-binary to the old transgender message has confused some people,” she explained, noting that President Trump’s recent ads mocking gender-neutral pronouns have caused conservatives to He emphasized that it was particularly effective for voters.
Taylor emphasized the importance of “meeting people where they are.” she realized there were some well-meaning words LGBTQ+ Activists have pushed language and policies that may be difficult to resonate with large parts of the country, especially outside metropolitan areas.
“We need to meet people where they are,” Taylor said. “That’s not necessarily the case for LGBTQ+ activists in Massachusetts, the greater Northeast, and the larger cities on the West Coast,” she said, including using terms like “pregnant” and promoting the use of pronouns. He pointed to the change in language and said it could alienate people. “Forcing people to state their pronouns is something that most people don’t do,” she added, noting that while some of these efforts may be popular among progressives, He explained that they often encounter resistance from people who feel forced to accept changes that they do not accept. I don’t fully understand or agree with it. Taylor warned that this disconnect could lead to a backlash, making it more difficult to change public opinion on transgender issues in the long term.
Taylor highlighted how certain transgender-related issues resonate with voters, such as public funding for health care and transgender sports participation. “Anything that deals with public funding for gender-affirming care is going to become unpopular,” she says. “These are poll-tested questions.”
Andrew Flores, Associate Professor of Government, American University Washington DCexpressed concern about the long-term effects of President Trump’s approach. “It’s not entirely clear that this is a winning strategy,” Flores said. defender. “The track record of anti-transgender candidates is that they don’t often win.” These ads may appeal to President Trump’s base, but they also focus their attacks on issues such as the economy and health care. He said it risks alienating other voters who see it as a distraction from more pressing issues.
Flores also explained why the Trump campaign is placing such emphasis on these ads. He suggested this could be an attempt to appeal to religious conservatives whose positions on abortion have been excluded from the campaign. “This is more of an attempt to strengthen religious conservatives,” Flores said. President Trump may be trying to energize this core group while mobilizing other voters by highlighting transgender issues during baseball and football games. “My past research has shown that the more avid sports fans are, the more likely they are to hold anti-transgender views to begin with, so the dual role of mobilizing religious conservatives and appealing to an audience receptive to their appeal “Maybe it’s a strategy,” Flores explained.
Flores added that the focus on transgender-related issues in prisons, particularly the debate over whether gender-affirming care should be publicly funded, further complicates the conversation. . “This isn’t just anti-trans. It’s also the use of public funds,” he explained. While public opinion tends to oppose taxpayer-funded surgeries, Flores emphasized that gender-affirming care extends beyond surgery to include therapy and hormone replacement therapy. He also highlighted the high rate of violence against transgender individuals in prisons, noting that transgender prisoners are often held based on their sex assigned at birth, which puts them at risk of assault. He pointed out that it would increase.
Despite spending millions on anti-transgender ads, Flores remains skeptical about their potential impact on elections. “This is a gamble, and I’m not convinced it’s a good bet,” he said.
Polling data supports the idea that transgender issues remain a polarizing factor in American politics. Gallup 2023 public opinion poll Only 26% of Americans think transgender athletes should compete on teams that align with their gender identity, a decrease from the previous year. However, widespread support for transgender rights remains strong, particularly regarding non-discrimination protection and access to health care. According to 2024 happy According to the voter survey, 83% of respondents agreed that transgender people are entitled to the same rights as other Americans, but they are not entitled to the same rights as other Americans, such as participation in sports and medical care for minors. Support dwindled as the issue was brought up.
Taylor believes that while these attacks may gain traction now, long-term public opinion may shift, especially as the effects of anti-trans policies become more apparent. “One of the things we can do over the next few years is show how public policy changes are at the expense of transgender people,” Taylor said, adding that recent public attitudes around abortion rights The changes and similarities were pointed out. Until then, she noted, the trans community will continue to be an effective political tactic.
Source: Advocate.com – www.advocate.com
