Trump airs anti-transgender ads during football games: ‘Kamala is for they/them’

Football fans have likely seen one of the most striking ads of this campaign season, featuring images of Vice President Kamala Harris alongside transgender members of the Biden administration and a clip from "Orange Is the New Black" showing inmates in prison jumpsuits.

“It’s hard to believe, but it’s true,” the narrator states. “Even the liberal media was shocked. Kamala supports taxpayer-funded sex changes for prisoners and illegal immigrants.”

The ad concludes with the tagline, “Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.”

While former President Trump’s campaign emphasizes the economy as the central issue of the election, these ads focus on reigniting culture wars, addressing issues that may not directly affect most Americans.

A Trump campaign official noted that these ads are being aired in battleground states and during college and pro football games, making them among the most widely circulated of the campaign.

“There is nothing subtle about this ad,” said Tali Mendelberg, a Princeton political scientist and author of “The Race Card: Campaign Strategy, Implicit Messages, and the Norm of Equality.” She compared its use of “stigmatizing images to evoke prejudices about marginalized populations” to the infamous Willie Horton ads from the 1988 election, which were used by George H.W. Bush to defeat Michael Dukakis.

“Regardless of opinions on public funding for transgender operations in prisons, these ads could further stigmatize individuals who already face significant discrimination,” Mendelberg added.

The Trump campaign seems to be banking on two strategies with these ads: reinforcing its appeal among young male voters and painting Harris as far-left to sway undecided voters. Chris LaCivita, co-campaign manager, noted, “It’s the last thing on Earth they want to talk about. So we’ll talk about it for them.”

Harris, in a 2019 ACLU questionnaire, stated she would ensure transgender individuals in prison have access to necessary medical care, including surgeries. Courts have affirmed that prisoners have this right if it is deemed medically necessary. While public opinion generally supports some rights for transgender people, there is less acceptance regarding the rights of transgender prisoners, such as housing based on gender identity.

“There’s tremendous backlash against that nonsense among ordinary Americans,” said Pennsylvania Republican consultant Charlie Gerow, asserting that it highlights how out of touch Harris is.

The Harris campaign responded, pointing out that her questionnaire responses do not reflect her current proposals or campaign platform.

Trump has been known for leveraging racial, gender, and sexual divisions in his political strategies. His 2016 campaign included unfounded claims about Barack Obama’s birthplace and derogatory remarks about immigrants. Recently, he warned that the country would resemble Detroit, a majority Black city, if Harris were elected.

Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group supporting Harris, expressed concern over the ad’s strategy to instill fear through unfamiliarity, calling it an old tactic of divisiveness. However, she remains hopeful it will not succeed and emphasizes the negative impact of such rhetoric on transgender youth, who may face increased suicide risk in states with anti-trans laws.

Robinson highlighted the failures of candidates who ran on anti-trans platforms in the 2022 midterms, suggesting that these ads may not be effective. Nevertheless, Trump’s 2016 campaign successfully used similar strategies, labeling immigrants as dangerous, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis won reelection by opposing the “woke agenda.”

Cornell Belcher, a pollster for Obama, noted that while this message resonates with about 46% of the electorate, it may not sway the “mom sitting at her kitchen table in the suburbs of Philadelphia” who is concerned about her daughter's rights.