DeSantis stands by ad that trashed Trump for backing gay rights

Ron DeSantis is doubling down on a controversial campaign ad that attacked former President Donald Trump for being too accepting of LGBTQ rights — a message some have slammed as openly homophobic.

The Republican presidential contender, who is seeking to position himself to the right of Trump, defended the unsettling ad that included a mash-up of Trump’s past remarks supporting gay rights with images of shirtless men with rippling muscles.

“Identifying Donald Trump as really being a pioneer in injecting gender ideology into the mainstream … I think that’s totally fair game,” DeSantis told conservative media figure Tomi Lahren Wednesday night on her show.

The Florida governor accused Trump of opening the door to transgender girls and women to compete in women’s sports by allowing to them to compete in his Miss Universe beauty contest.

Trump has now joined the rest of the GOP field in backing draconian anti-trans laws.

“He was having [transgender women] compete against women in his beauty pageants,” DeSantis said. “He’s now campaigning, saying the opposite, that he doesn’t think that you should have [transgender women] competing in women’s things like athletics.”

The ad uses strange techno music and far right-wing memes to make its point that Trump has shifted dramatically on the issue.

DeSantis said he has always held anti-trans views.

“We’ve been very clear about it: we believe in protecting the rights of our girls and the rights of women athletes to participate with fairness,” he said.

Gay rights advocates, including the largest group of gay Republicans, quickly denounced the ad as homophobic.

Some, including Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), also noted that it hypocritically uses homoerotic images to make an anti-gay rights argument.

“That’s the gayest crap,” tweeted Santos, who is gay and backs Trump.

It’s not the first time DeSantis has been accused of homophobia. He has faced criticism for Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law that restricts discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools.

That edict and restrictive laws aimed at trans people are broadly popular with the GOP primary electorate, which is likely why the group backing DeSantis wanted to take a pot shot at Trump for his shifting stands.

DeSantis is also trying to position himself to the right of Trump on abortion.

Florida recently enacted a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, a limit that is widely unpopular with the general public but could be a selling point with evangelical Christian conservatives who play an outsized role in the GOP nomination contest.

Trump, on the other hand, has refused to be pinned down on the issue and privately has told aides that abortion rights is a loser for Republicans in the general election, a point that is born out by polls.

There is little sign that any of the barbs are working for DeSantis. He has dropped steadily and significantly in the polls for months and is now far closer to the rest of the GOP pack than he is to Trump, who holds a commanding lead over everyone.