US President Donald Trump has falsely claimed he won “the g@y vote” during the 2024 presidential election, despite only picking up 12 percent of support from the LGBT+ community.
During a lengthy phone interview on Fox News’ The Five on Thursday (March 25), the president, 79, was asked to comment on rumors that Mojtaba Khamenei, the son and successor of Iran’s late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was g@y.
He said he’d been told that was the case, adding that it would “put him off to a bad start in that particular country.”
The president then went further to discuss women and LGBTQ+ community members who support Palestine. He also touched on “the gay vote” in America.
During the interview, Trump that he “sort of [has] to smile to myself” when he sees women and the LGBTQ+ community supporting Palestine.
He explained, “But they kill women if you don’t wear… certain cloth all over your face, you have no chance of living.” As for the LGBTQ+ community, he said, “But they kill gays. They kill ‘em instantly. They throw ‘em off buildings.”
Trump then shifted the conversation to himself, saying that he thought he was “united very well with the gay vote.”
“I even played the g@y national anthem as my walk off, okay?” he said, seemingly referring to the Village People‘s hit “Y.M.C.A.” He opined that using the song “probably” helped him make inroads with the community.
“But I did great. No Republicans ever got the gay vote like I did. And I’m very proud of it. I think that’s great. Perhaps it’s because I’m from New York City, I don’t know,” he speculated.
Citing exit poll data, NBC News reported that Trump did receive approximately 27% of the vote from the LGBTQ+ population in the 2020 election, which he lost to former President Joe Biden.
However, in the 2024 election, he suffered major losses with the community, only receiving 12% of the LGBTQ+ vote to former Vice President Kamala Harris‘ 86%.
