News
Pence Targets Transgender Kids in Iowa Speech: ‘We’re Winning This Fight All Over the Country – Just Ask Bud Light’
Mike Pence in Iowa this week is meeting with small groups but making big promises. The former Trump vice president is currently polling in fourth place in the Hawkeye State – worse than his third place position nationally.
Speaking to members of the Woodbury County GOP and Republican Women at Sioux City’s Pizza Ranch, Pence remarked that most of them had the “right” color hair – same as his own.
Delivering his stump speech in pleated khakis and no tie, repeatedly attempting to button his sport coat, Pence answered many questions in a less-starched manner than usual, even high-fiving one woman after praising her remarks.
His answers, while phrased in the former Indiana governor and former GOP congressman’s unique mix of formality and religious references, did not deviate much from those of his Republican rivals, but asked by a Trump supporter why they should vote for him instead of the ex-president, Pence told the group he wasn’t running against Donald Trump or anyone else.
READ MORE: DeSantis Defends Widely-Criticized Anti-LGBTQ Ad
Like other Republican presidential candidates have recently vowed, Pence promised to shut down the federal Dept. of Education, and send that money back to the states.
He also promised he will fix the border without further reducing the nation’s supply of migrant workers who come in from Mexico, often to work on farms and in construction, only to find themselves forced to flee north, often leaving those industries decimated.
Pence promised he will put an end to “asylum abusers,” and ensure the immigration system is restructured, apparently into more of a jobs board to provide the nation with the type of workers businesses need.
He also promise to block transgender girls from participating in girls sports, and – without being asked – vowed to enact a nationwide ban on health care for transgender children.
“Where do you stand on transgender in sports and them going into women’s restrooms, to change and so forth?” one voter asked Pence.
“Look, uh, it was amazing to me when President Biden, during the State of the Union address, literally promised to defend in his words, ‘the God given right of men to compete in women’s sports,'” Pence replied, falsely characterizing the President’s remarks.
In his 2022 State of the Union Address, President Biden said, “And for our LGBTQ+ Americans, let’s finally get the bipartisan Equality Act to my desk. The onslaught of state laws targeting transgender Americans and their families is wrong.”
“As I said last year, especially to our younger transgender Americans,” Biden continued, “I will always have your back as your President, so you can be yourself and reach your God-given potential.”
The following year, the President said, “Let’s also pass the bipartisan Equality Act to ensure LGBTQ Americans, especially transgender young people, can live with safety and dignity.”
Pence continued his answer, saying, “let me tell you what, participation in women’s sports should be limited to the gender assigned at birth,” he said in a staccato tone, to applause.
“It’s common sense, it’s fairness, we’ve made incredible progress for women. In the last 25 years we’ve opened doors of opportunity for education and professionally let alone in athletics and the idea that we would allow the erosion of the incredible progress we’ve made in women’s athletics is crazy.”
He went on to promise a ban on transgender children’s health care.
“The second piece of this though, I gotta tell you, Indiana just did this and I know Iowa’s taking a strong step: We have got to ban chemical or surgical transgender treatment for anyone under the age of eighteen,” Pence insisted. Nearly every major medical organization has said various types of gender-affirming health care for transgender minors, which rarely include surgical methods, is vital to their well-being.
READ MORE: ‘Treacherous March of Normalization’: ABC News Slammed for ‘Puff Piece’ Profile on Moms for Liberty
“We raised, you know, three kids, we survived those teenage years,” he said, appearing to mock teens, to laughter.
“It’s a fact any parent or grandparent knows,” Pence said. “There’s a reason why you can’t get a tattoo in Indiana under the age of 18. There’s a reason we don’t let you drive a car until you’re 16. It’s because young people don’t fully appreciate the consequences of their actions.”
Pence blasted “the radical left,” and “its transgender ideology” which he said, “has taken hold in our schools.”
“It’s amazing to me, you’ve got a school in Iowa, where you have to have a permission slip from your parents to get a Tylenol but you can get a gender transition plan from the health department without ever telling your folks.”
“That’s not bad policy, that’s crazy,” Pence declared. “And I’m telling you what, we’re winning this fight all over the country – just ask Bud Light.”
Watch Pence’s full remarks below or at this link.
Enjoy this piece?
… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.
NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.
Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.
 |
Maine Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Graham Platner is under fire after releasing a video declaring that new allegations against him are false, yet he is “taking time to reflect” on a path forward.
Politico on Monday afternoon reported that a woman who dated Platner, Jenny Racicot, “says he forced her to have sex with him nearly five years ago despite her repeated objections, an allegation Platner denies.”
“Racicot said she had an on-and-off relationship with Platner,” Politico reported, “for more than two years before he entered her rural Maine home uninvited one night in late 2021, deeply intoxicated, and forced himself on her while she repeatedly told him to stop. She said she cut off contact with him after telling him the encounter was not consensual.”
In a video posted to social media eleven minutes after the Politico story dropped, Platner says, “I wanted to directly address the troubling, serious, and false allegations against me. Any accusation of nonconsensual behavior is categorically false.”
He said he and his supporters “were united in a love of Maine, a belief that our politics must change, in a focus on defeating Susan Collins.”
“So, regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting, but mindful the political reality will inflict, we are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love, the people that I love, the movement I belong to, and the goal of defeating Susan Collins.”
“Those were the goals when we launched this campaign. And they remain my goals today.”
“Throughout it all, you never turned your back on me. And I will not turn my back on you now. Every one of you deserves to see that vision come to fruition and see Susan Collins defeated. And we will use every tool at our disposal to do so.”
The Bulwark’s Tim Miller, a political commentator who served as the communications director for the Jeb Bush 2016 presidential campaign, blasted Platner.
“I’m sorry but ‘we are taking time to reflect on the best path forward’ is not an option on the table,” Miller wrote. “Either it’s false and you campaign with vigor or it’s true and you get out / apologize to everyone you let down.”
Journalist Ryan Grim, commenting on Platner’s video, noted that Platner “strongly suggests he is considering dropping out. Already Troy Jackson and Chellie Pingree, both gubernatorial candidates, are being kicked around in Maine circles as potential replacements.”
Several others, including Puck News’ Peter Hamby, predicted Platner will be dropping out.
Platner had postponed several campaign events before the Politico story was published.
— Graham Platner for Senate (@grahamformaine) July 6, 2026
President Donald Trump is facing backlash after posting a video of children — including showing their unblurred faces — graduating from kindergarten, with some of the girls purportedly wearing hijabs.
“President Trump posted a captionless video of graduating kindergarteners on Truth Social on Monday, goading his supporters into verbally attacking little children simply for being Muslim,” The New Republic reported. “The clip is from Gateway STEM Academy, a majority-Black K-8 public charter school in St. Paul, Minnesota. It shows about 21 children in caps and gowns on stage singing a song together. Most of the girls are wearing hijabs.”
The original post of the video which Trump reposted reads: “Public school in St. Paul, Minnesota. Every girl is in a hijab … in kindergarten.”
Trump did not add any comments. TNR called the post “Islamophobic, weird, and creepy,” while noting that the comments section of Trump’s post was filled with calls “by racist, xenophobic MAGA supporters” to “deport the children and ban hijabs.”
TNR also noted that it “should come as no surprise that Trump isn’t above attacking children who just learned how to read, but this post is still particularly discomforting—and will certainly contribute to the already potent level of anti-Muslim sentiment in the U.S. and in Minnesota.”
Critics blasted Trump.
“There is something deeply unsettling about the president of the United States—the most powerful person in the world—going after kindergarten schoolchildren in Minnesota because they wore hijabs, as Trump has done this morning on his website,” The Bulwark’s Sam Stein wrote.
One social media commentator wrote, “Trump posted an unblurred video of more than a dozen Muslim kindergartners to Truth Social, exposing the children’s faces while targeting them for their religion.”
Another added, “Trump is a bigot. The president took to Truth Social to attack kindergarteners in hijabs. These are little kids. The president isn’t just a bigot, he’s also a coward.”
The original video was posted to the X social media platform in June.
U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) at the time commented, “If you are in a public school in America, you should be speaking english.”
Image via Reuters
President Donald Trump’s apparent efforts to delay releasing the $5.8 million civil judgment to E. Jean Carroll are being met with a warning by the journalist’s legal team, who suggest there could be a legal maneuver for Trump to employ to forgo paying the judgment in either of the two cases he lost.
According to The Guardian, on July 4, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered Trump to release the $5.8 million judgment, which is in escrow, to Carroll by this coming Tuesday — or explain why he would not do so.
Carroll’s attorneys think Trump may be trying to buy time to mount another legal strategy, telling the judge that Trump’s request for an extension “appears to be little more than yet another play for time.”
“The case is separate from Trump’s appeal of a Manhattan civil jury’s 2024 award of $83.3m to Carroll for defamation,” The Guardian explains. “But her lawyers have suggested a legal scenario in which the president might seek to conjoin the cases and further delay payment of both.”
Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan (no relation to the judge) wrote, “We can only assume that defendant is seeking … to buy time so he can try to concoct some new basis to put off paying plaintiff presumably in connection with his forthcoming petition and motion for a rehearing.”
Trump’s former attorney, Justin Smith, in one of his final acts, wrote to the Supreme Court suggesting that his client would be appealing the $83.3 million civil judgment.
Smith argued that the Supreme Court “may wish to consider the petitions together,” given they involve the same parties.
The larger judgment case involves possible questions of presidential immunity, and that has Carroll’s attorneys concerned.
“A conjoined case, Carroll’s lawyers fear, could result in both judgments being wiped out,” The Guardian reports.
The president has also made clear he is no fan of Judge Kaplan, after the jurist made several rulings that “angered” Trump.
“What else can you expect from a Trump Hating, Clinton appointed judge, who went out of his way to make sure that the result was as negative as it could possible be,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in 2023, “speaking to, and in control of, a jury from an anti-Trump area which is probably the worst place in the US for me to get a fair ‘trial’.”
Image via Reuters
Platner Scorched Over ‘Taking Time’ Video After New Accusation
Trump Sparks Fury Online After Posting Unblurred Video of Muslim Kindergartners in Hijabs
One Legal Maneuver Threatens to Undo Everything E. Jean Carroll Won
Inside the Group Helping MAGA Voters Walk Away — And What Finally Pushed Them
