In a bizarre moment, the first lady announced that President Donald Trump is all for gay people.
Speaking to a crowd in Atglen, Pennsylvania, Melania Trump described the president as someone “who sees potential in everyone he meets, no matter their gender, race, religion or sexual orientation.”
She didn’t use the typical term LGBTQ or even mention transgender people. But mentioning LGBTQ voters likely isn’t a good idea in the Trump administration because of the laundry list of things they’ve done to hurt the community.
“Donald loves helping people and he loves seeing those around him and his country succeed,” Mrs. Trump added, claiming he has a “very big heart and a great sense of humor.”
The Human Rights Campaign has a long list of ways that Trump has hurt LGBTQ America. Trump opposed the Equality Act, none of Trump’s judges are LGBTQ and in fact those he has appointed don’t support LGBTQ rights. Trump even joked that Vice President Mike Pence wants to kill LGBTQ people when he said, “Don’t ask that guy—he wants to hang them all!”
Trump supports discrimination for LGBTQ people at work, he banned transgender people from serving in the military, he rolled back former President Barack Obama’s rules about protecting people from discrimination, and even gave an exemption so that companies could fire LGBTQ people claiming “a religious exemption.”
Anyone with HIV/AIDS is now no longer able to serve in the military, and Trump cut $1.35 billion from the budget to fight HIV/AIDS around the world. They removed healthcare protections that ensured LGBTQ people could never be discriminated against on healthcare policies. The Department of Health and Human services even created a division to help defend doctors who refuse to treat LGBTQ patients.
That list doesn’t even include the battle that conservatives have because they decided they can’t go to the bathroom in the same room as a transgender person. There are many, many more.
Just last week, Trump’s daughter Tiffany spoke out at an LGBTQ Trump rally in Florida with her mother, Trump’s second wife, Marla Maples.
“Back in the Broadway days — I mean, let’s just — I mean, some of her best friends when she was on Broadway — unfortunately, one of her best friends passed away from AIDS,” Tiffany said.
See a clip of Melania’s speech below: