Eric Trump Comes Out — Not as Gay, But Foolish

Eric Trump appeared to call himself a member of the LGBTQ+ community -- which he's not -- on Fox & Friends Tuesday morning, while responding to a New York Times story about a lesbian New Yorker who's a "secret" supporter of his father.

"The LGBT community, they are incredible," Donald Trump's second son said on the Fox News Channel program. "And you should see how they come out for my father every single day. I'm part of that community, and we love the man. Thank you for protecting our neighborhood, thank you for protecting our cities." Eric Trump actually appeared to be trying to speak in the voice of a hypothetical supporter of Donald Trump.

In reality, most LGBTQ+ people do not love the president, no matter what unscientific, clickbait surveys may say. But there are some outliers, like a Manhattan woman identified only by her first name, Chris, who told Times columnist Bret Stephens, "Being a lesbian who's voting for Trump is like coming out of the closet again."

Chris, a retail manager, praised Trump's economic record, saying her 401(k) plan increased notably in value before the COVID-19 pandemic and that gas prices have gone down. She said when she was out of work a few years ago, she could not afford health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

She admitted that Trump has downplayed the pandemic but said it could have been far worse, and she took issue with his "fine people on both sides" comment about white supremacist demonstrators and counterdemonstrators but said that was not a deal-breaker for her. She said she didn't believe Christine Blasey Ford's allegation that Brett Kavanaugh, now a Supreme Court justice, had sexually assaulted her, and she accused Bill and Hillary Clinton of being behind claims of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Stephens didn't ask Chris about Trump's record of consistent opposition to LGBTQ+ equality, or at least didn't quote her on it. But Trump and his administration have rolled back every bit of progress made under President Obama and added repression on top of it: reinstating the transgender military ban, rescinding guidance on equal treatment of transgender young people in schools, reversing the ACA's ban on anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination in health care, numerous rules and orders allowing discrimination in adoption and foster care services, admission to homeless shelters, and more under cover of "religious freedom," appointing anti-LGBTQ+ judges, and making pro-discrimination arguments at the Supreme Court.

Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, responded to Eric Trump's statement in a Twitter thread.

Several other Twitter users ridiculed his statement as well.