Trump closing out campaign cycle with anti-trans attacks

• More than two dozen states have passed bans on gender-affirming care.

State of play: Trump said he would slash the Department of Education Monday on Fox News when asked how he would improve education. He also offered the false claim that gender-affirming operations are being conducted in schools.

• "No transgender, no operations," the former president said. "You know, they take your kid. There are some places, your boy leaves the school, comes back a girl. Without parental consent."
• The Trump campaign has also launched ads highlighting Harris' past support of gender-affirming care for people in prisons, ending with the tagline, "Kamala is for they/them; President Trump is for you."

Asked for evidence to support Trump's anecdotes, the Trump-Vance campaign pointed to a number of stories about policies that allow students to socially transition in the classroom without informing parents — but none of which supported his claims of operations being conducted in schools.

Zoom out: The attacks also come as LGBTQ+ representation in politics has skyrocketed yet still lags far behind what would be proportional representation.

• Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride (D) is expected to become the first openly transgender person elected to the House of Representatives this year.

Between the lines: Polling shows that transgender issues do not rank among the top concerns for voters this election cycle.

• But the Trump campaign has spent upward of $21 million on ads highlighting Harris' support for gender-affirming care access, CNN reported. The ads are running nationally and in swing states, inundating football viewers in the weeks leading up to the election.

What they're saying: The "inflammatory" messaging is likely an effort to get the MAGA base "worked up and ... chomping at the bit," said Don Haider-Markel, a University of Kansas political science professor who researches LGBTQ+ representation in politics.

• "The messaging is really intended to get those infrequent voters off the couch," he said, adding, "Without those inconsistent voters, I just don't think he can put together a coalition to win those battleground states."
• But Haider-Markel noted while public opinion polling demonstrates broad support for protections for transgender Americans, sentiment about "body-centric issues," like gender-affirming care and sports participation, is more divided.
• "Opinion seems to be less certain, so focusing on those body-centric issues allows for opportunities for opponents, as well as proponents, to gain new converts," he said.

The other side: Democratic vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz took aim at Trump's eleventh-hour attacks and the way the "hate has shifted to the trans community" in an episode of the "We Can Do Hard Things" podcast released Thursday.

• "If you're watching any sporting events right now, you see that Donald Trump's closing arguments are to demonize a group of people for being who they are," Walz said.
• Harris also responded to the Trump campaign's digs over her support for gender-affirming care, saying in a Fox News interview with Bret Baier, "He [Trump] spent $20 million on those ads trying to create a sense of fear in the voters because he actually has no plan in this election that is about focusing on the needs of the American people."
• Asked in the same interview whether she stood by her previous position supporting gender-affirming surgery for inmates, Harris said, "I will follow the law. And it's a law that Donald Trump actually followed."

Threat level: Trump has promised to roll back transgender rights if elected and has vowed to punish doctors and hospitals who provide gender-affirming care.

• But gender-affirming services are widely supported as appropriate and medically necessary by several leading health groups, like the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
• The GOP's official 2024 party platform vows to "End Left-wing Gender Insanity," "keep men out of women's sports" and "stop Taxpayer-funded Schools from promoting gender transition."

Yes, but: As the right continues to launch attacks from the culture war arsenal, LGBTQ+ activists have also raised concerns that some Democrats are softening in their defense of the community.

• Democratic Senate candidate Rep. Colin Allred drew scrutiny over his response to attacks from his incumbent challenger Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) over voting against a 2023 Republican bill mandating sports participation be determined by birth sex.
• "Let me be clear: I don't want boys playing girls' sports, or any of this ridiculous stuff that Ted Cruz is saying," Allred said.

Zoom in: An ad from Sen. Sherrod Brown (D), who is fighting to maintain his closely watched Ohio Senate seat, also triggered criticism from advocates.

• The Senate Republicans' political action committee falsely claimed in an advertisement that Brown voted "to let biological transgender men participate in women's sports."
• Brown's campaign responded with their own ad, in which they emphasized that the Ohio Democrat agrees with Republican Gov. Mike DeWine that "local sports leagues" rather than politicians, should make decisions on athletics participation.

Friction point: Vivian Topping, the Equality Federation's director of advocacy and civic engagement, described weak responses from some Democrats as "disappointing," especially given the full-throated defense from others in the party.

• "I am a transgender woman, and I live every day as myself, and every single day we have a new attack coming against trans people," Topping said.
• She continued: "When there are .... constantly lies about who you are being spread, it makes you wonder what's next."

Go deeper: States are limiting gender-affirming care for adults, too