This Week in Barrel Scraping: Donald Trump, LGBTQ+ Hero
The Republican primary got weird this week as Ron DeSantis of Florida accused Trump of not hating queer people enough in a video that angered everyone from Log Cabin Republicans to the creators of Peaky Blinders.
by Alyssa Steinsiek
Big wet paper towel come to life Ron DeSantis has put out an absolute banger of a summer hit! Well, the Twitter account that represents his media team did, anyway. And they didn’t exactly make it themselves; it’s sourced to right-wing “breaking news” Twitter account Proud Elephant. But that shouldn’t at all diminish your opinion of DeSantis’ creative chops.
screenshot from Twitter
As the saying goes, there’s a lot to unpack here, so let’s start off at the top with the video’s most egregious, most comical claim: Donald Trump has done more than any other Republican to celebrate pride month.
Donald Trump, who banned transgender Americans from serving in the military via tweet? Donald Trump, under whom the Department of Health very nearly defined transgender people out of existence? Donald Trump, whose Department of Education banned transgender athletes from competing?
Yeah… I don’t think so, Ron.
Trump spouting vague love for the LGBTQ+ community during a bid for the White House doesn’t mean he actually cares. Obviously. Actions speak louder than words: Trump and his administration were, by a wide margin, the most anti-queer executive arm to ever exist.
DeSantis’ video specifically quotes Trump promising to “protect LGBTQ citizens,” but it fails to include just who Trump was promising to protect us from: a “hateful, foreign ideology.” Trump wasn’t concerned with 49 dead queer folks in Orlando; he was pissed that America’s hateful domestic ideology got beaten to the punch.
The video also drew connections between Trump and Caitlyn Jenner.
Honestly? Keep her. You can have her. We don’t want her. Thanks!
Once the video is done with Trump, it devolves into what can only be described as some kind of fever dream wannabe Andrew Tate knockoff music video, complete with bass-heavy, throbbing electronic music, a picture of DeSantis with lightning shooting out of his eyes, and proudly presented news headlines discussing the Florida Governor’s abhorrent slew of attacks against queer Americans.
There’s nothing new or interesting about this digital diarrhea, except maybe TV show Peaky Blinders’ Twitter account explicitly disavowing any connection to the video, which uses a few short clips from the show.
But if I’m being honest about it? I thought the video was pretty boring.
Does anybody remember, back in 2020, when Solid Snake Crenshaw threw himself out of an airplane to own the libs?
Look, that guy’s terrible, but I respect his commitment a lot more than some weasley, passive aggressive Twitter video featuring the GigaChad meme and talking shit about Donald Trump despite the fact that Ron can’t stop defending him in the court of public opinion.
Hands down, though, my favorite critique of DeSantis and his deeply pathetic video comes from—no, I’m not kidding—the Log Cabin Republicans.
screenshot from Twitter
That’s right! Some of our favorite pick me quislings are just now picking up on the fact that DeSantis actually doesn’t like any queer people. As long as trans folks were the punching bag, these dear queer cons were happy to keep quiet… but now it’s personal!
This whole thing is a pretty shameless attempt to feed into a news cycle that, frankly, does not want DeSantis. Trump’s polling lead is a death sentence for DeSantis’ political career, and he’s doubling down on hateful rhetoric and anti-transgender sentiments in hopes of recapturing Trump’s ever faithful MAGA base.
It isn’t gonna happen, Ron. Not when freaking Chris Christie is closing the gap on you.
Chris Christie? For shame, Ron DeSantis. For shame.
Alyssa Steinsiek is a professional writer and video games nerd who hails from Appalachia but lives, laughs, loves in Minneapolis.
