DeSantis Defends Anti-Trump Campaign Ad Widely Decried As Homophobic

Topline

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has doubled down on an ad for his presidential campaign that criticized former President Donald Trump’s history of pro-LGBTQ comments, saying Wednesday the ad was “totally fair game” even as it garnered widespread criticism from both sides of the aisle as being homophobic.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during the Moms for Liberty Joyful Warriors national summit on June … [+] 30 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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Key Facts

DeSantis was asked on streaming show Tomi Lahren is Fearless about a campaign ad released by the unofficial Twitter account DeSantis War Room and then shared by the governor’s presidential campaign, which shows Trump saying he would “do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens” and expressing support for transgender women using female bathrooms and competing in Miss Universe, contrasted against DeSantis’ policies targeting transgender and LGBTQ rights.

Host Tomi Lahren asked DeSantis about backlash against the ad, which was released the last day of Pride month, to which the Florida governor said he believes it is “totally fair game” to “[identify]

Donald Trump as really being a pioneer in injecting gender ideology into the mainstream … because he’s now campaigning saying the opposite.”

The governor pointed to Trump letting transgender women compete in beauty pageants and his apparent flip-flopping on the issue, saying DeSantis has instead “been very clear that we believe in protecting the rights of our girls” and his campaign is “fighting back” against “gender ideology” both in and out of schools.

DeSantis claimed it’s “an attack on women’s rights more broadly to say that gender is fluid, and I think it’s also an attack on truth itself,” referring to fights for transgender rights as a “social fad.”

The DeSantis campaign ad garnered widespread criticism from the left, with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who is gay, saying he “do[esn’t]

understand the mentality of somebody who gets up in the morning, thinking that he’s going to prove his worth by competing over who can make life hardest for a hard-hit community, that is already so vulnerable in America.”

The ad was also criticized by some on the right, with Log Cabin Republicans—a group representing LGBTQ conservatives—calling the ad’s message “divisive and desperate,” Caitlyn Jenner saying the governor had “hit a new low” and Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) telling the Hill that while he “used to think [DeSantis] was a great governor,” he’s now “starting to think differently.”

Chief Critic

When asked about DeSantis’ remarks on the ad, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told NBC News, “A desperate DeSanctus campaign, with a flailing candidate, in its last throes of relevancy.”

Big Number

23.3%. That’s the share of GOP voters on average who support DeSantis in the 2024 presidential primary as of Wednesday, according to an analysis of polls by FiveThirtyEight. Trump remains the clear frontrunner in the Republican race, with 52% support.

Contra

While DeSantis’ ad shows Trump speaking out in favor of LGBTQ rights, the former president has since taken a more hostile tone. Trump likened support for gender-affirming care for minors to “child abuse” in February, saying that if reelected, his administration would target hospitals and healthcare providers who have provided gender-affirming care, and his Justice Department would go after “big pharma” and “big hospital networks” for their role in providing care for transgender Americans. School officials would also face “severe consequences” for “suggest[ing] to a child that they could be trapped in the wrong body,” Trump said, and suggested asking Congress to pass legislation saying the U.S. government only recognizes “male” and “female” as genders.

Key Background

DeSantis has garnered widespread controversy as governor for his history of pushing policies that critics decry as being anti-LGBTQ, including restrictions on drag shows and gender-affirming care and the state’s Parental Rights in Education bill, known by critics as “Don’t Say Gay.” That legislation, which restricts discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools and was recently expanded by the legislature, drew national controversy and sparked an ongoing war between DeSantis and Disney after the media giant spoke out against the law. The Florida governor’s criticism of Trump comes after DeSantis was previously more hesitant to directly attack the former president on the campaign trail, before ramping up his attacks more as DeSantis’ presidential run got formally underway. Trump has attacked DeSantis repeatedly as he’s become the ex-president’s primary rival for the GOP nomination, dubbing the Florida governor “DeSanctimonious.”