Donald Trump’s campaign political director said on Monday that an anti-“they/them” political ad “didn’t demonize the transgender community” and that “it really isn’t even about transgender issues.”
CNN host Dana Bash played the ad for James Blair, which featured sound bytes of Kamala Harris saying that all prison inmates would have access to sex reassignment surgery. It also featured the vice president posing with a drag queen.
“Even the liberal media was shocked,” the narrator says in the ad. “Kamala supports taxpayer-funded sex changes for prisoners and illegal aliens. Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.”
Bash said that the on-air spot played in the battleground states and on national cable, and “even on networks and streaming during NFL games.”
She told Blair, “The transgender community in the U.S. is very, very small. It got really outsized attention. There are a lot of people who say that your campaign demonized the trans community as a way to present a wedge issue for perhaps men of color, suburban parents. Why do you think — I know you believe that those ads work?”
Blair answered, “Well, first of all, we didn’t demonize the transgender community. In fact, this really isn’t even about transgender issues. This ad is really about misplaced priorities.”
He added that it’s only “a small minority of the country that thinks taxpayer dollars should be spent on that sort of thing” and that “a majority of the country” is “saying very clearly that they don’t believe the government is working for them, they’re worse off than they were four years ago, the country is in the wrong track.”
Blair said that watching Harris say “she’s going to move this agenda forward … just doesn’t comport with [voters].”
He concluded, “People want the government to be doing what what their priorities are, and frankly, spending taxpayer dollars to give transgender surgery to prisoners is just not a priority of the American people, and that’s why the ad was effective.”
Ground Media, a company that actively engages with liberal causes, conducted a study that concluded that the ad “yielded no statistically significant shift in voter choice, mobilization or likelihood to vote.”
“What this demonstrates is that attacking the trans community isn’t just a weak and feckless political strategy — it’s a deeply cynical one,” David Rochkind, CEO of Ground Media, told GLAAD on Oct. 24. “These ads weaponize trans-identity to sow fear and division, making our country less safe for everyone.”
According to CNN, Trump’s campaign spent $21 million on the ads.
In her Oct. 17 sitdown with Fox News’ Bret Baier, Harris said, “I think he spent $20 million on those ads trying to create a sense of fear in the voters because he actually has no plan in this election that is about focusing on the needs of the American people.”
