It's been increasingly clear over the past few years Democrats have badly misjudged the public’s tolerance for their extreme social policies. I don’t think the party even realized it was a problem. When you look at how quickly public opinion shifted on same-sex marriage, it’s hard to argue that Republicans didn’t have to steer clear of social issues to stay competitive in elections.
But the 2024 elections proved that Democrats have gone too far and that Republicans can go on offense on social issues and win. A Republican just won the national popular vote for the first time in 20 years, and one issue in particular helped make it happen. It caught Democrats completely off guard.
According to a report from Axios, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer “heard a consistent, urgent alarm this week from Democrats who felt ambushed by GOP attacks on transgender people participating in women's sports.”
The Republican Party’s ability to make this a winning issue for them helped the Republicans defeat longtime incumbent Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and Bob Casey (D-Penn.)
The report notes that the GOP spent over $77 million since July on transgender issues in U.S. Senate races in ten states.
In Ohio, a McConnell-linked super PAC spent over $32 million on ads linking Brown to supporting policies like allowing trans men in girls’ locker rooms and child sex-change surgeries.
“In two private postmortem meetings convened by Schumer, Democrats said the party was caught flat-footed by the attacks, even as many campaigns aired ads pushing back,” Axios reports.
Despite claims to the contrary from left-wing organizations, there is no evidence that genital mutilation and hormone injections are medically necessary. A recent study out of Finland has found that medically transitioning children and young adults with gender identity disorder does not prevent suicide, and studies have also shown that 60% to 90% of young people with gender dysphoria will grow out of it after puberty.
Related: ‘Gender-affirming Care’ for Children Has No Medical Benefits
In 2022, a UK-based study from the nonprofit organization Sex Matters found that the alleged benefits of “gender-affirming care” are “no greater than a placebo effect.” An earlier Swedish study even found an increase in suicide and criminal behavior among gender-dysphoric people who transitioned over those who didn't.
Last year, Trump outlined a comprehensive plan to protect children from the transgender cult, which includes revoking Biden's policies on so-called "gender-affirming care" and signing an executive order instructing all federal agencies "to cease all programs that promote the concept of sex and gender transition at any age." Trump also wants Congress to permanently stop federal tax dollars from being used to promote or fund such procedures and pass a national ban on child sexual mutilation. You can read about his plan here.
After years of Republicans playing defense on social issues, it's clear now they have something that works for them, and they need to take advantage of public sentiment to protect children from the transgender cult and to protect women's sports. Trump has a mandate to do this and to see it through.
