ABOVE: Photo via Trump’s former Facebook page.
During a “Save America” campaign rally on July 9 in Anchorage, speaking to a gathering of far-right conservative voters, former President Donald Trump launched a series of attacks on the Biden administration and then pivoted to attack transgender Americans.
Trump was in Alaska ahead of GOP primaries and the mid-term elections in November to campaign for Kelly Tshibaka, who is challenging incumbent U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a moderate Republican in this year’s GOP primary along with former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, who is running for the congressional seat once held by U.S. Representative Don Young, who was Alaska’s at-large congressman for 49 years, from 1973 until his death in 2022.
Trump was also campaigning lending his support to reelect Gov. Mike Dunleavy who was not present at the July 9 rally.
In the course of his remarks, in addition to promoting his lie about winning the 2020 presidential election, he attacked the Biden administration on several fronts and then spoke out on his record as president on what his administration had accomplished for Alaska.
After stressing his record on energy leases, jobs and industry that Trump claimed his administration had brought to the state, he blamed the failure to implement on Senator Murkowski and the Biden White House and for cancelling those leases.
After a few more minutes of pontificating on his record the former president pivoted saying that Republicans will be fighting for ‘Parents Rights,’ a catch phrase used to attack progressive policies in schools and educational instructional materials covering racial and LGBTQ+ issues.
“It’s time to completely and totally smash the far left’s education cartel,” Trump said. “It’s crazy what is going on. Our children are captives to unhinged Marxist educators. […] who are pushing inappropriate sexual, racial, and political material on out children from the youngest possible age,” he said.
“The public school system has become an arm of the radical left- we are not going to allow this to happen,” Trump said. He then noted that parents should have the ability to opt out and have choice of private, charter or other schooling alternatives. He took aim at Critical Race theory “being taught” when in in fact it has not been taught in the nation’s secondary or elementary schools contrary to the far-right narrative Trump was espousing.
The former president declared that “We will keep men out of women’s sports” before targeting University of Pennsylvania Women’s Swim Team member Lia Thomas, who he misgendered. “He’s a giant, he’s a big guy,” Trump said, referring to her as “a person with a man’s body.” He also attacked New Zealand Olympian Laurel Hubbard, a weightlifter who made history as the first out trans woman to compete in the games.
After a sentence or two more on athletics Trump then declared that “No teacher should be allowed to teach transgender to our children, ” he paused then added: “without parental consent.” Trump claimed that Republicans would take action to stop “Big Pharma and others from giving hormone… puberty blockers and other treatments from mutilating our youth.”
Trump then stated they would work towards getting rid of Federal officials who have okayed trans affirmative care and regulations.
Trump, who took the stage at the Alaska Airlines Center around 4:30 p.m., spoke for about 90 minutes. While he didn’t directly indicate that he will be running again in 2024, he did state “I ran twice, I won twice,” Trump said, repeating his lie about 2020. “And now, with the approval of the great people of Alaska, we may have to do it again.”
The Anchorage Daily News reported by the time Trump took the stage, nearly every seat in the arena, which has a capacity of 5,000, was full.
The rally drew prominent Republican state lawmakers — including House Minority Leader Cathy Tilton of Wasilla and Reps. Kevin McCabe of Big Lake and Sarah Vance of Homer — along with local officials, such as Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson and Anchorage Public Library deputy director Judy Norton Eledge.
