Trump Claims He Is Now The Most Pro-Gay Candidate for President In Speech on Orlando Terrorism

In One of the Greatest Examples of Pandering Ever, Trump Stretches Beyond the Bounds of the Believable

Donald Trump is now trying to position himself as pro-gay, pro-LGBT, and pro-equality – just three days after he promised hundreds of evangelical Christians he will “defend Christian Americans.” The presumptive Republican nominee Monday afternoon delivered an angry speech in the wake of the terror attack that killed 49 people at an Orlando gay nightclub, and injured another 53. 

Despite having just told one of the most anti-LGBT crowds in America, Ralph Reed’s Faith & Freedom Coalition, on Friday that he will “restore faith to its proper mantle in our society,” and his administration “will respect and defend Christian Americans. Christian Americans,” he repeated for emphasis, Trump on Monday claimed to now be more pro-LGBT than Hillary Clinton.

Also on Friday Trump offered these pandering words to the Christian evangelicals at the Faith & Freedom Coalition: “It’s really the people who go to church, who work and who work in religious charities. And share their values. These are the foundations of our society,” Trump claimed. “Marriage and family as the building block of happiness and success — so important,” Trump added.

By contrast, on Monday Trump proclaimed that “who we are as a nation,” our “heart and soul,” is being pro-LGBT.

To be clear, Trump is opposed to same-sex marriage.

Monday afternoon, Trump offered many statements in which he claimed to be pro-gay – which, if they were not coming from a man who has repeatedly denounced same-sex marriage, said he would appoint judges to the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the ruling that made same-sex marriage legal, and supports the First Amendment Defense Act (FADA), which gives carte blanche to anyone who wishes to invoke a sincerely-held religious belief to discriminate against LGBT people – might be make someone believe he cares about LGBT people.

He does not.

“A radical Islamic terrorist targeted the nightclub not only because he wanted to kill Americans, but in order to execute gay and lesbian citizens because of their sexual orientation,” Trump told the audience in Manchester, New Hampshire. “It is a strike at the heart and soul of who we are as a nation.”

“It is an assault on the ability of free people to live their lives, love who they want and express their identity. It is an attack on the right of every single American to live in peace and safety in their own country.”

Trump is of course correct, but few if any actually believe he means what he says.

“Radical Islam is anti-woman, anti-gay and anti-American,” he continued. “I refuse to allow America to become a place where gay people, Christian people, and Jewish people, are the targets of persecution and intimidation by Radical Islamic preachers of hate and violence.”

NEW: Trump: Obama Administration Policies Toward LGBT Community a ‘Disgrace’ (Video)

“It’s not just a national security issue. It is a quality of life issue. If we want to protect the quality of life for all Americans – women and children, gay and straight, Jews and Christians and all people – then we need to tell the truth about Radical Islam.”

Trump then turned his attack to his Democratic opponent.

“Hillary Clinton can never claim to be a friend of the gay community as long as she continues to support immigration policies that bring Islamic extremists to our country who suppress women, gays and anyone who doesn’t share their views,” he claimed. “She can’t have it both ways. She can’t claim to be supportive of these communities while trying to increase the number of people coming in who want to oppress them.”

Trump of course isn’t talking about radical Islam when he says “radical Islam.” He’s talking about Islam, period. And if you doubt it, remember his call to ban all Muslims from entering the country, which even included Muslims who currently live in the U.S. but were out of the country, say, on vacation or on a business trip. 

“Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on,” Trump said December 7, and has repeated since.