Donald Trump – the most anti-LGBTQ+ president in modern history – teases White House run
Former US President Donald Trump speaks during a rally at the Dayton International Airport in Ohio (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Donald Trump, one of the most anti-LGBTQ+ Presidents in history, has teased a return to politics, telling a campaign rally he will make a “very big announcement” this month.
The twice-impeached former US President told the crowd at a rally in Dayton, Ohio that he would make his statement on 15 November at his Mar-a-Lago resort, The Guardian reported.
Speculation is now rife that Trump will soon announce a run in the 2024 Presidential race once the results of Tuesday’s (8 November) midterm elections have been revealed.
He said to a whooping crowd: “Not to detract from tomorrow’s very important, even critical, election… I’m going to be making a very big announcement on Tuesday, November 15 at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.
“We want nothing to detract from the importance of tomorrow.”
Trump has recently been dropping hints that he would run for President for a second time, reportedly telling a crowd in Iowa on Friday (4 November) that he will “very, very, very probably do it again”.
Repeating his entirely debunked claims that the 2020 election was “stolen” from him, he said to the crowd: “I ran twice… I won twice, and did much better the second time than I did the first, getting millions more votes in 2020 than I got in 2016.
“And now in order to make our country successful, and safe and glorious. I will very, very, very probably do it again.”
Trump previously stated in a 2021 interview that he was “beyond seriously” considering running for President in 2024, because he misses “helping people”.
During a campaign rally in Ohio Monday night, Former President Trump teased a possible 2024 White House run, saying he'll make 'very big announcement' on Tuesday, Nov 15th at Mar-a-Lago. @nbcwashington pic.twitter.com/yP3UaQhRmA— Michael Pegram (@MichaelPNews) November 8, 2022
Close to the beginning of his presidency, in 2017, Trump announced a ban on trans people serving openly in the US military, claiming it was burdened by the “tremendous medical costs” of trans personnel.
In one of Biden’s first actions as President, he reversed the ban, but not before trans people were made to feel like “caged animals”, unable to join the military simply because of their gender identity.
Nic Talbott, a trans man who wanted to join the military, but instead had to work at a Walmart, said of the ban: “I am capable, qualified and willing to do more, but there’s this barrier in front of me that makes absolutely no sense.”
The former President also, among other egregious attacks on LGBTQ+ people, appointed judges to the Supreme Court with anti-LGBTQ+ views, pushed a rule to allow federally-funded homeless shelters to reject transgender and gender non-conforming people based on “the shelter’s religious beliefs”, and erased LBTQ+ language, data, and resource pages from government websites.
Trump has continued making jabs against the LGBTQ+ community since his presidency ended, going on several anti-trans rants, and seemingly supporting Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law by saying schools shouldn’t be “teaching transgender” to students.
At the end of his presidency, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) said: “HRC will continue to stand up against Trump.
“We will join other civil rights organizations and remain vigilant in holding Trump and his administration accountable at every turn.”
