Global Courant
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis defended a controversial video on Wednesday that went after former President Donald Trump over LGBTQ rights and was shared by his campaign.
“Identifying Donald Trump as really pioneering the injection of gender ideology into the mainstream where he pitted men against women in his beauty pageants — I think that’s totally fair, because he’s campaigning now and saying the opposite,” DeSantis told conservative commentator Tomi Lahren in an interview for her streaming show “Tomi Lahren is Fearless.”
It was his first public reaction to the video.
“A desperate DeSanctus campaign, with a flailing candidate, in its last throes of relevance,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said when asked to comment on the comments made by DeSantis, one of his rivals for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
The video, shared on Twitter by the DeSantis campaign’s rapid-reaction arm Friday, attacks Trump from the right, portraying him as a champion of LGBTQ rights. It includes a clip of Trump saying he will “do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens” in a speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention — which took place shortly after the mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in DeSantis’ home state of Orlando — features photos of Trump with Caitlyn Jenner, the prominent trans Olympian turned celebrity.
The second part of the video attempts to portray DeSantis as a more masculine figure, with headlines about his actions restricting LGBTQ rights accompanied by rousing music and pictures of muscular men.
Jenner made her disapproval clear in a reply to the message on Twitter, writing Saturday morning, “DeSantis has hit a new low. But he is so desperate that he will do anything to get ahead – that has been the theme of his campaign.”
The video has drawn criticism – and some derision – from across the political spectrum.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told CNN on Sunday that he would “get rid of the weirdness of trying to prove your manhood by putting up a video that splits footage of you between oiled up, shirtless bodybuilders.”
Ric Grenell, a former Trump administration official who is gay, described the video as “definitely homophobic” on Twitter just hours after the campaign shared it.
The Log Cabin Republicans, an organization of LGBTQ Republicans, criticized DeSantis, write on Twitter that he has “entered homophobic territory”. It added that DeSantis has “alienated the swing state and younger voters.”
DeSantis has spoken out about his push to limit LGBTQ rights. Last year, he signed into law a bill banning discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in public school classrooms through third grade, which critics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. In May he signed another bill prohibiting transgender people from using public restrooms that match their gender identity and prohibiting gender-affirming care for minors.
During his presidency, LGBTQ rights advocates also frequently criticized Trump for some of his policies, including banning transgender people from the military, removing Title IX Protection for Transgender Students and banning US embassies from flying Pride flags during LGBTQ Pride Month.
