Proving that no one in the Trump family has ever googled the definition of irony, Melania Trump reaffirmed her husband’s alleged love for the LGBTQ+ community at a recent rally.
The First Lady, who has been notably absent from the 2020 campaign trail, made a pit stop in southeastern Pennsylvania on Tuesday ahead of the November 3 voting deadline. In her address to the largely maskless crowd gathered in Atglen, Mrs. Trump criticized media coverage of the president, claiming that it has intentionally misrepresented who he really is. She described him as someone “who sees potential in everyone he meets, no matter their gender, race, religion or sexual orientation.” (That statement that notably excludes trans people, but that’s kind of their thing.)
“Donald loves helping people and he loves seeing those around him and his country succeed,” she added, claiming that he has a “very big heart and a great sense of humor.”
Returning to a victimhood narrative which has been a staple of the president’s reelection bid, Mrs. Trump alleged her husband had been targeted by the press simply because he is a conservative, suggesting a Democrat would have been treated differently.
“But when he decided to run for the presidency as a Republican, the media created a different picture of my husband, one I didn’t recognize, and treated all his supporters with equal disdain,” she claimed. “The media has chosen to focus on stories of idle gossip and palace intrigue by editorializing real events and policies with their own bias and agendas.”
Despite the First Lady’s frankly absurd claims that attacks on Donald Trump are merely the result of partisan bias, the woman behind the anti-cyberbullying campaign “Be Best” neglects to acknowledge the very real and lasting harm that the Bully-in-Chief has perpetrated on the LGBTQ+ community. Since taking office, the national nonprofit GLAAD estimates that the Trump administration is responsible for at least 181 attacks on queer and trans people, which amounts to one every 7.6 days.
These assaults on the basic rights and dignity of LGBTQ+ people are so numerous and wide-ranging that they cannot be covered in full. Key decisions include fighting against LGBTQ+ workplace protections at the Supreme Court, making it easier for doctors to turn away transgender patients and people living with HIV, banning trans people from the military, and lifting Obama-era guidance affirming the identities of trans students. The White House has also backed a nationwide “religious freedom” bill allowing businesses to turn away LGBTQ+ people.
And yet despite these actions, members of the president’s circle continue to claim that Trump is an LGBTQ+ ally — an oft-repeated falsehood that had its genesis in his 2016 campaign. Eric Trump accidentally came out while claiming that LGBTQ+ people “love the man” during a Fox News segment, ignoring the fact that Trump has historically low support from the community.
“You should see how they come out in full force for my father every single day,” the middle Trump son said without bursting into flame.
But because 2020 is nothing if not an unrelenting hellscape, the Trump family has waged a tireless campaign to make that obvious lie stick. Tiffany Trump appeared at a “Trump Pride” rally in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania earlier this month, in which she told a crowd of dozens that the president “has always supported all of you.” “He’s never done it for politics,” she added, “and unfortunately there’s a lot of people out there — politicians — who do.”
At the same event, Donald Trump Jr.’s wife, Lara Trump, called her father-in-law “the most pro-gay president in history,” while former ambassador Richard Grenell attempted to speak for the community by saying: “Mr. President, the gays love you.” (Obligatory fact check: They most certainly do not.)
The president’s boosters often cite his vow to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic, even while cutting funding for testing and treatment, and a sham effort to decriminalize homosexuality as proof of his LGBTQ+ bonafides, but the only thing worse than his LGBTQ+ record are his poll numbers. Trump is currently trailing by an average of nine percentage points in aggregates compiled by FiveThirtyEight, while The Economist gives him just a 3% chance of winning the Electoral College.
Things are a bit better in Pennsylvania, the home of this month’s Trump Rally and the site of Melania Trump’s recent comments, but not by much. The president is trailing by 5.1 points with over 75 million ballots already cast nationally.
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