Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Wednesday defended a controversial video that attacked former President Donald Trump over LGBTQ rights and was shared by his campaign.
“To identify Donald Trump as really being a pioneer in bringing gender ideology into the mainstream, where he had men compete against women in his beauty contests – I think that’s absolutely fair, because he is now campaigning saying the opposite,” DeSantis told the conservative commentator. Tomi Lahren in an interview for his streaming show “Tomi Lahren is fearless”.
These were his first public comments on the video.
“A desperate DeSanctus campaign, with a struggling candidate, in his final throes of relevance,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said when asked to comment on DeSantis’ remarks, one of his rivals for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
The video, shared on Twitter by the DeSantis campaign’s quick-response arm on Friday, attacks Trump from the right and paints him as an advocate for LGBTQ rights. It features a clip of Trump saying he would ‘do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens’ in a speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention – which took place shortly after the mass shooting in Pulse , a gay nightclub in Orlando at DeSantis’ own state – and shows photos of Trump with Caitlyn Jenner, the prominent trans Olympian turned celebrity.
The second part of the video attempts to portray DeSantis as a more masculine figure, showing headlines of his actions restricting LGBTQ rights, accompanied by upbeat music and photos of muscular men.
Jenner made her disapproval clear in a reply to message on Twitter, writing on Saturday morning: “DeSantis hit a new low. But he’s so desperate he’ll do anything to get ahead – that’s the theme of his campaign.
The video drew criticism – and some mockery – from across the political spectrum.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told CNN on Sunday that he would “leave aside the weirdness of trying to prove your manhood by putting up a video that pastes images of you between oiled up, shirtless bodybuilders.” .
Ric Grenell, a former Trump administration official who is gay, describes the video as “undeniably homophobic” on Twitter just hours after the campaign shared it.
The Log Cabin Republicans, an organization of LGBTQ Republicans, criticized DeSantis, write on twitter that he has “ventured into homophobic territory”. He added that DeSantis “alienated swing state and younger voters.”
DeSantis has expressed a desire to restrict LGBTQ rights. Last year, he signed a law banning discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in public school classrooms until third grade, which critics dubbed the “Don’t Tell” law. gay”. In May, he signed another bill banning transgender people from using public restrooms that match their gender identity and banning gender-affirming care for minors.
During his presidency, LGBTQ rights advocates also frequently criticized Trump for some of his policies, including banning transgender people from the military, removing Title IX protections for transgender students, and banning U.S. embassies to fly pride flags during LGBTQ Pride Month.
This article originally appeared on NBCNews.com