ABOVE: Tiffany Trump headlines Trump Pride in Tampa Oct. 17. Screenshot via WFLA.
TAMPA | Donald Trump’s youngest daughter Tiffany headlined Trump Pride Oct. 17 at the Westshore Grand Hotel, an event designed to court LGBTQ voters ahead of the presidential election.
Trump Pride bills itself as a diverse coalition dedicated to Trump’s re-election. Organizers advise that the president “stands in solidarity with LGBT citizens by supporting and enacting policies and initiatives that protect the wellbeing and prosperity of all gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans.”
Tiffany Trump was joined by a number of conservative voices, including openly gay Trump Pride Co-Chair Richard Grenell. In addition to serving as the face of LGBTQ outreach for her father’s campaign, he previously served as the former acting director of national intelligence.
Trump Pride gatherings are a recent outreach effort, strategically held in recent weeks in swing states throughout the country. The Tampa event was the first to be held in Florida, which awards 29 of the 270 Electoral College votes required to win the presidency.
The state’s largest LGBTQ civil rights organization condemned Trump Pride Oct. 17 ahead of its Tampa event. Equality Florida advised that the Trump campaign was attempting to “disguise their abhorrent record on LGBTQ issues by holding a spate of desperate last minute ‘Trump Pride’ events.”
“Donald Trump is the worst President the LGBTQ community has ever seen,” Executive Director Nadine Smith said in a statement. “This event is a pathetic attempt to hide his appalling record and it’s fooling no one. We are tired of Trump’s lies and our community understands a second term would be devastating.”
The organization subsequently outlined a number of Trump’s “relentless attacks on the LGBTQ community,” a part of its largest voter mobilization effort in 23 years. Equality Florida noted that the Trump administration has repealed Obama-Biden era protections for LGBTQ youth, discharged and banned transgender military service members, opposed federal laws protecting the LGBTQ community, blocked LGBTQ asylum seekers fleeing violence and more.
Despite this, Trump Pride asserts that the president “has proven himself to be a strong advocate for the LGBT community both at home and abroad.” Grenell discussed his support for Trump before those assembled in the Westshore Grand Hotel conference room, asserting that LGBTQ advocates have “lost their way.”
“They demand you be pro-abortion, they demand you be for immigration, open borders,” Grenell said. “They demand that you be for all of the left issues, because they recognize we have made equality happen in this country.”
He subsequently attacked vice presidential nominee Senator Kamala Harris, calling her the “queen of cancel culture,” the ideology defined as withdrawing support for public figures after they’ve done something objectionable. Lamenting its practice, he asserted that “yesterday’s champions of diversity are today’s’ intolerance.”
Further asserting that “Donald Trump is 100% with us,” Grenell added that the president “asks me pretty regularly, ‘How are we doing with gays and lesbians?’ and I say, ‘Mr. President, the gays love you. They love you because you are savage. They love you because you’re brave. They love you because you are changing Washington, D.C.”
Tiffany Trump echoed Grenell, calling it an honor to “speak truthfully, honestly, from my heart.” She noted that “I know what my father believes in. Prior to politics, he supported gays, lesbians, the LGBQIA+ community, OK?”
Trump’s unscripted keynote touched on several topics. She noted that she has been confronted by friends with “fabricated lies” concerning her father’s track record on LGBTQ civil rights.
“It saddens me,” Trump said. “I have friends of mine who reach out and they … make up stories, ‘how could you support your father, we know you, we know your best friends are gay. We know your best are this, this, this.’
“I say it’s because my father has always supported all of you,” she continued. “He’s never done it for politics and he’s not doing it for politics and unfortunately I think there’s a lot of people out there and other politicians who do, OK?”
Trump further noted that “Democrats have pretty much attempted to always control who you, [who] we are supposed to vote for, one way or the other. It’s your choice … He supports all of you and we are here to fight for equality, democracy, to keep America and make it better. Yes, Trump Pride!”
You can watch the Grenell and Trump’s full remarks during Trump Pride below via Tampa Bay NBC affiliate WFLA:
Equality Florida added Oct. 17 that it has endorsed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for their pro-LGBTQ record and agenda.
The Democratic ticket has pledged “to pass federal protections for LGBTQ people, reinstate Obama-Biden era protections for youth and overturn Trump’s bigoted ban on transgender service members,” they shared. Read more here.
For more information about Equality Florida, visit EQFL.org. For more information about Trump Pride, visit Pride.DonaldJTrump.com.
