Trump’s blitz of anti-trans ads probably worked – but not for the reason you might think

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. open image in gallery YouTube comments on the Trump “they/them” ad show people posting about how effective they found it "We'll probably never know what the exact impact was," says Wasserman. How Trump tied transgender basketball to the price of milk To understand this, think back to that Blueprint poll that juxtaposed trans rights against "helping the middle class". In other words, the key to these ads' appeal was in linking trans rights to the issues voters care about most, targeting one of Harris's biggest vulnerabilities while buffing Trump's image by contrast. open image in gallery Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, D-Del., the first openly trans member of Congress, leaves a meeting of House Democrats on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024 The implicit premise of Trump's ads – that trans rights are a distraction from serving the needs of the majority – isn’t actually too far away from Democrats’ regular talking point that Republican attacks on trans people are a “distraction” from “the real issues”.