During an MSNBC panel on queer and trans voters, Brandon Wolf -- an LGBTQ activist and survivor of the 2016 shooting at the Pulse nightclub -- debunked what he called a “totally delusional” lie that President Donald Trump supports LGBTQ Americans.
On August 19, gay conservative group the Log Cabin Republicans posted a video of former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell making the absurd claim that Trump is “the most pro-gay president in American history.” The following day, Grenell joined the Republican National Committee as a senior adviser focusing on LGBTQ outreach despite the RNC’s explicitly anti-LGBTQ platform. Fox News has since hosted Grenell in two segments in which he whitewashed Trump and the Republican Party’s extreme anti-LGBTQ record.
During the August 23 segment on AM Joy -- which also featured Democratic strategist Aisha C. Mills and The 19th’s LGBTQ+ reporter Kate Sosin -- guest host Jonathan Capehart asked Wolf about Grenell’s statement. Wolf called it “hot garbage” and “totally delusional,” citing the Trump-Pence administration’s countless discriminatory policies, including banning trans people from the military and trying to legalize discrimination against LGBTQ people by health care providers and child welfare agencies. He also noted, “We don't have to believe Richard Grenell on how Donald Trump will treat LGBTQ Americans. We already know because we've seen the policies in action.”