Donald Trump tweeted that it’s his “great honor!!” in response to a gay Republican video calling him the “most pro-gay president in American history.”
The Log Cabin Republicans (LCR) released a video in support of Trump this week that features out former U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, attacking Joe Biden’s record on LGBTQ issues while saying that Trump has actually been the best president ever for gay people.
Related: Gay former Trump official calls Joe Biden homophobic because he didn’t pick a gay VP
The video’s message might come as a shock to people. The Trump administration has opposed LGBTQ rights in court, banned transgender people from the military, rolled back protections for LGBTQ people in several executive departments, expanded religious exemptions to allow nonprofits and businesses to discriminate against LGBTQ people, and given anti-LGBTQ hate groups more access to the White House.
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Even the Trump campaign’s surrogates tell voters who oppose LGBTQ rights that Trump just needs four more years to enact their agenda.
To make their argument, Grenell and the LCR first ignore transgender people, despite LCR’s mission statement that says they’re “LGBT Republicans” and their belief that “equality for LGBT Americans is in the finest tradition of the Republican Party.” In the video, though, Grenell sticks to the terms “gay” or “gay and lesbian.”
Grenell says that Trump is the “first president in American history to be pro-gay marriage from his first day in office.” Trump has repeatedly said that he opposes marriage equality – he even criticized the Supreme Court for legalizing marriage equality in its Obergefell v. Hodges decision – and has never come out in support of marriage equality. The closest he got was saying that he is “fine with” marriage equality being legal and that it’s “irrelevant” and “settled,” not exactly a ringing endorsement.
Grenell also lauds the Trump administration’s promise to end the criminalization of homosexuality around the world, a project that Trump himself was unaware of at the time and that has had no successes.
The LCR video attacks Biden for a number of his former positions – like his opposition to marriage equality in the 90s – which are still common GOP positions today.
It even goes after Biden for an off-hand comment he made about gay people in 1973… although the video doesn’t mention that the comment was from almost 50 years ago.
The rest of the video is about Grenell’s bitterness towards gay Democrats.
“There are millions of patriotic gay Americans, who are sick of being told to sit down and shut up by those who want to control us,” Grenell said on a video that has over three million views.
“They try and bully us into silence,” he said. “Yesterday’s champions of diversity are today’s intolerance.”
My great honor!!! https://t.co/kh2a5yumef
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 20, 2020
