Trump questions acceptance of transgender people as he courts his base at Moms for Liberty gathering

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump lamented the growing acceptance of transgender Americans Friday in an appearance at the annual gathering of Moms for Liberty, a national nonprofit that has spearheaded efforts to get mentions of LGBTQ+ identity and structural racism out of K-12 classrooms.

Trump said transgender women should not be allowed to play in women’s sports and said access to gender-affirming health care should be restricted. But he largely stuck to his favourite topics during an hourlong “fireside chat” in Washington, where he lashed out at President Joe Biden, deplored illegal immigration and reminisced about his parents’ marriage, his path to being the reality television star of “The Apprentice” and the debate that ended Biden’s reelection campaign.

“Our country is being poisoned. And your schools and your children are suffering greatly because they’re going into the classrooms and taking disease, and they don’t even speak English,” Trump said of immigrants crossing the border illegally. “It’s crazy.”

Trump said school boards have become “like dictatorships” hostile to the desires of parents, echoing conservative frustration that bubbled over in public meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’m for parental rights all the way. I don’t even understand the concept of not being,” Trump said.

He added: “The parents truly love the kids…You have to give the rights back to the parents.”

Trump entered a hotel ballroom in Washington as he does at his signature rallies, standing and soaking up applause and chants of “Trump, Trump, Trump” for the entirety of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.” Seated onstage with the co-founder of Moms for Liberty, Tiffany Justice, he shared some of his favourite stories that are mainstays at his rallies, bouncing from topic to topic in a style that has become familiar to his supporters.

The former president sought to shore up support and enthusiasm among a major part of his base. The bulk of Moms for Liberty’s 130,000-plus members are conservatives who agree with him that parents should have more say in public education and that racial equity programs and transgender accommodations don’t belong in schools.

Yet Trump also runs the risk of alienating some moderate voters, many of whom see Moms for Liberty’s activism as too extreme to be legitimised by a presidential nominee.

A year ago, Moms for Liberty was viewed by many as a rising power player in conservative politics that could be pivotal in supporting the Republican ticket. The group’s membership skyrocketed after its launch in 2021, fuelled by parents protesting mandatory masking for students and remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But in the last several months, a series of embarrassing scandals and underwhelming performances during local elections have called Moms for Liberty’s influence into question.

The group also has voiced support for Project 2025, a detailed and controversial playbook for the next conservative presidency from which Trump has repeatedly tried to distance himself.

Moms for Liberty serves on the advisory board for Project 2025, and the author of the document’s education chapter taught a “strategy session” at the group’s Friday gathering.

The negative perceptions about Moms for Liberty around the country could increase the potential liability for Trump as he sits down with co-founder Justice, said University of Central Florida political science professor Aubrey Jewett.