Donald Trump noted how a crowd of his supporters became more enthusiastic at the mention of restricting transgender "insanity" than cutting taxes, despite it not being an issue a few years ago.
The former president appeared at the North Carolina Republican party convention in Greensboro on Saturday to deliver a speech in the wake of him being indicted on 37 federal charges in connection to the classified documents investigation.
As well as attacking the case as a "witch hunt" against him, Trump also said that if he were to win the 2024 election, he would sign an executive order as president to remove federal funding from schools that teach critical race theory and "transgender insanity" and other "inappropriate racially, political, and sexual content" to children.
The remarks brought a standing ovation and cheers from the crowd, briefly interrupting Trump's speech.
"It's amazing how strongly people feel about that. You see, I'm talking about cutting taxes, people go like that," Trump said while making a muted applause gesture.
"I talk about transgender, everyone goes crazy. Who would have thought? Five years ago, you didn't know what the hell it was."
A clip of the remarks was shared on Twitter by journalist Aaron Rupar.
In response, a number of social media users suggested that the former president is openly admitting how manufactured the culture wars being fought by other Republican figures, most notably his main primary rival Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, or how shocked he is that transgender rights have become such a hot-topic issue for some conservatives in recent years.
"Among the GOP candidates, only Trump has license to narrate his political movement's incongruities," tweeted political scientist Don Moynihan.
Author Daniel Loxton wrote: "This really is one of the most remarkable quotes I've heard in a long time. Turns out you can just invent an entirely new front in the 'culture war' as needed, and even Trump is surprised how many people will just pick up your made-up banner and run with it."
Paul Waldman, an opinion writer at The Washington Post, added: "TRUMP: Boy, what a bunch of easily manipulated rubes you people are, it's amazing, even after all this time I still can't believe how stupid you are. AUDIENCE: Woo hoo! You tell 'em, Trump! Yeah!"
Trump notes his crowd is more enthused about bigotry than they are for tax cuts: "It's amazing how strongly people feel about that. I talk about cutting taxes, people go like that, I talk about transgender everybody goes crazy. Five years ago you didn't know what the hell it was" pic.twitter.com/n1xoeCIL5C
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 11, 2023
Trump has previously criticized transgender individuals during his time in the White House, and his administration banned transgender people from serving in the military in 2017 and stated that trans women should not participate in women's sport.
The former president has begun leaning more into issues such as gender-affirming health care for transgender minors in his 2024 campaign, including announcing in February that he would punish doctors who provide gender-affirming healthcare.
"No serious country should be telling its children that they were born with the wrong gender," Trump said in a video posted on Truth Social. Trump also suggested that the concept of transgenderism had been "invented" by the radical left "just a few years ago."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more
