Trump admits anti-transgender attacks are one of GOP’s ‘great sound bites’

President Donald Trump offered a candid explanation Wednesday night for repeatedly targeting and demeaning transgender people. He believes it helps Republicans win elections.Speaking at the Republican Party’s first national midterm convention in Dallas, Trump misgendered transgender women and girls while discussing their participation in sports, then described the issue as campaign material best deployed shortly before voting begins.“I don’t like to do it much before the election,” Trump said. “I like to wait about a week before the election.”Trump said he was raising the subject earlier because he was “petrified” Democrats might change their position. “That will really hurt us,” he said. “That’s one of our great sound bites of all time.”Related: 11 times Donald Trump has randomly brought up his ‘transgender for everybody’ obsessionHe claimed without evidence that opposition to transgender athletes competing on teams matching their gender identity was a “99 to one” issue. In fact, a May 2025 Gallup poll found that 69 percent of U.S. adults said transgender athletes should compete on teams corresponding with their sex assigned at birth, while 30 percent said they should compete based on their gender identity — a substantial divide, but nowhere near Trump’s claim. Polling on voters’ priorities, meanwhile, shows their concerns lie elsewhere.A June GLAAD survey of more than 5,000 U.S. adults found that just 8 percent of registered voters considered transgender issues a top concern, compared with 44 percent who named inflation and the rising cost of living. Seven in 10 preferred candidates focused on affordability rather than restricting transgender rights, while nearly three-quarters supported a candidate who said everyone deserves to live without fear or discrimination.Trump claimed that the press had made up “affordability” as an issue, asking about the price of eggs on his second day in office.Republicans and their richest