https://www.npr.org/2024/10/19/g-s1-28932/donald-trump-transgender-ads-kamala-harrisThe Trump campaign has recently dropped at least $17 million on ads highlighting Vice President Harris' support during her 2019 presidential campaign for access to gender-affirming medical treatment for transgender people.
It's part of a broader Republican strategy casting the Democratic Party as taking transgender rights to extremes.
According to data compiled by AdImpact for NPR, these ads have aired more than 30,000 times, including in the key swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The campaign has placed a particular focus on NFL and college football broadcast audiences.
Voters consistently say issues like the economy and reproductive rights are their top concerns in this election. But in the closing weeks of the campaign, Republican ads focusing on transgender rights are dominating airwaves all over the country.
Consider the ad below from former President Donald Trump. If you've seen a Trump campaign ad lately, there's a good chance it's this one:
"I do think it's just emphasizing that sort of cultural divide that we do see in sport," said Jessica Taylor, a nonpartisan election analyst with the Cook Political Report. Taylor said the issue can appeal to men and swing suburban women, and polling backs that up.
Polling from the Marist Center for Sports Communication in 2022 found that 61% of Americans say transgender athletes should only be allowed to "play on teams that match their birth gender."
In extremely tight races where small shifts matter, divisive social issues can move the needle.
"If it moves a small sect of voters, that could still be key," Taylor said.
>Anti-trans rhetoric is also being used down-ticketRepublicans are making similar bets in the House and Senate races that help determine control of the next Congress.
