There is currently no clear leader or preferred candidate in the early stages to potentially win the nomination in the 2028 presidential primary for the first time since 1992, Enten said. Former Democratic presidential nominees Al Gore, Hillary Clinton and President Joe Biden became the party’s clear leaders throughout the 21st century by earning a favorability rating of over 25% in national polls.

“There’s no heir apparent,” Enten said. “You know, and we can see this perhaps best by, let’s [take] a look at the early poll leader for 2028. There isn’t one, there’s no early favorite, there’s no clear favorite and that is really unusual because the bottomline is, when you have no incumbent Democratic president following this year, we’ve looked back at similar situations; back in 2017, Joe Biden was the clear heir apparent, in 2005 and then in 2013 heading into the 2016 campaign, Hillary was up in the national polls. It was pretty clear she was the heir apparent. How about Al Gore going into the 2000 campaign or ’04, again, the clear heir apparent. You have to go all the way back … to the 1992 campaign with this giant question mark over here … where there was no clear heir apparent.”

“This is going to be the first cycle it seems since going back all the way to the late ’80’s, early 1990’s in which there is no clear early frontrunner for the next Democratic nomination,” Enten continued.

The lack of a clear leader in the Democratic Party could be “good news” for the party given that Clinton lost the nomination to former President Barack Obama in the 2008 primary season, Enten and CNN’s John Berman explained. After having no clear leader in 1992, Democrats also won that year’s election when former President Bill Clinton defeated incumbent President George HW Bush.

The Democrats are currently in “bad shape,” Eaten said as he referenced Biden’s approval rating which stands at 40% nationally — just 3 points higher than former President Jimmy Carter’s favorability in 1980. The party is set to hold no majority in Congress or the White House in 2025, which has only occurred 5 times in the last 90 years.

“Even after 2016, you go into 2017 and Democrats control no levers of the Congress, Democrats have no real heir apparent really except for Biden,” Enten continued. “But Barack Obama at least had an approval rating nationwide of 53%. Look at where Joe Biden’s is, 40%. You have to go all the way back to 1980 … to find a departing incumbent Democratic president to have an approval rating as low as Joe Biden’s is right now. When you make the comparison to Jimmy Carter on popularity, you know that you’re in bad shape.”

President-elect Donald Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris early Wednesday by securing 312 electoral votes and by becoming the first Republican nominee to win the popular vote since 2004. Republicans also gained control of the Senate, with 53 seats, and appears slated to keep control of the House of Representatives.

Trump made major inroads with black and Latino men, along with blue collar workers, who exited the Democratic Party in droves.

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This one is a first for me.

The radical leftist posted a short but potent critique of how Democrats view their corporate media lapdogs and it’s actually spot on.

Democrats view media as marketing. That’s why they get so angry when any left-wing media doesn’t agree with them 100%. And they got used to mainstream media, like Morning Joe and The View, being pure propaganda for them. So, they’ve developed a very unhealthy entitlement complex.

There’s a lot @joerogan doesn’t agree with Trump on, but Trump didn’t give a shit. He took the win. Democrats think it’s unacceptable unless the host agrees ahead of time to give them everything. They’ll take nothing instead. Ok, well that’s what you wound up with – nothing.

It fundamentally misunderstands the current media dynamics. You’re not getting it – we don’t need you, you need us. How many elections are the Democrats going to lose before they figure this out?

To be fair, it’s mostly corporate media’s fault they’re treated this way by Democrats. They bowed before Barack Obama and then never stood back up to face future Democrats. They got so used to kissing his butt that they started kissing whatever blue butt was in front of their faces.

It’s a crude visually, but it’s accurate.

As I’ve long said, the far left and the far right share a common disdain for mainstream interests. Granted, the far left has been willing to ignore those interests as they pertain to the media because it has benefitted their side for so long, but that doesn’t mean they don’t recognize the hypocrisy. Uygur is just voicing something he’s known clearly for a very long time.

The funny (or sad, depending upon your perspective) part about all of this is that corporate media would be MORE effective at promoting their UniParty Swamp puppet masters if they pushed back against them sometimes. There’s a reason why 𝕏 as a platform and podcasting as a medium are viewed more favorably than corporate media and left-aligned Big Tech.

It’s not because there are no Democrats on 𝕏; there are actually more Democrats than Republicans there.

It’s not because there are no leftist podcasts; some of the most powerful podcasters, including Rogan, are or were Democrats.

The reason corporate media has sunk so low on the trust scale is because they’ve become agenda-driven instead of truth-driven. That has always been the case to some extent, but over the last eight years it has become so commonplace that members of corporate media are no longer trying to hide their biases. They hate Trump and they’re willing to admit it. They hate Trump’s supporters and they no longer disguise their disdain.

The big concern for conservatives shouldn’t be media continuing on their unhinged, leftist path. The longer they do it, the less they’ll be trusted. The real concern for conservatives is if corporate media wakes up and starts reporting facts instead of narratives. of course, that would take a complete overhaul and it’s unlikely any of them have the stomach for that.

Trump has gained support among both black and Hispanic voters, largely due to the economy and immigration, before President Joe Biden announced he would not seek reelection on July 21. Former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Jay Clayton said that blue-collar and middle-class voters in the middle of Pennsylvania who voted for Democrats during the 2004 election would be crucial for Trump.

“Let’s recognize what I think a couple of your guests have already said, which is the Trump voter is a different voter today than the Republican voter of 20 years ago,” Clayton told “Squawk Box” co-host Joe Kernen. “In fact, the Trump voter of today was a Democratic voter of 20 years ago.”

WATCH:

“Many of them,” Kernen responded.

Trump leads Harris in a head-to-head matchup by 0.3% in polls of Pennsylvania voters from Oct. 18 to Nov. 3, according to the RealClearPolling average. Trump leads or is tied in the last eight polls that include independent candidate Cornel West, Green Party candidate Dr. Jill Stein and Libertarian Chase Oliver as options.

Biden led Trump by 2.6% in the RealClearPolling average of polls of Pennsylvania voters in 2020, but only won by 1.2% that year. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton led Trump by 2.1% in the polling average, but lost the Keystone State to Trump in 2016 by 0.7%.

“And going back to Pennsylvania, if you get those people in the middle of the state, blue collar jobs, middle class people, to turn out, then Trump wins,” Clayton said. “And it’s very hard, it’s very hard for pollsters to do that because it’s new. It’s not patterns that you’ve seen in the past.”

Trump leads in the RealClearPolling for four of the six other swing states, with Harris holding small leads in Wisconsin and Michigan. Trump outperformed polls in both the 2016 and 2020 elections, according to RealClearPolling.

Trump trailed Clinton by 6.5% in the final average before beating Clinton in Wisconsin by 0.7%, while Biden led Trump by 6.7% before securing a 0.7% win in 2020. In Michigan, Trump trailed Biden by 5.1% but lost the state by only 2.8% in 2020, while Clinton led Trump by 3.6% in Michigan 2016, only to lose the state by 0.3% when the votes were counted.

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Thousands of Trump supporters flooded the typically liberal city on Sunday afternoon, filling Madison Square Garden to kick off the campaign’s final week before Election Day. Joining a lineup of Republican figures like businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, Florida Rep. Byron Donalds and former Democrat Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard — Carlson took the stage, quickly voicing his confidence in a Trump victory.

” … That’s Donald Trump, back in the city that produced him with no embarrassment at all in a room full of his friends. The stones that takes, the bravery that takes is incredible. Donald Trump’s gonna win. He’s gonna win. I know that that’s true,” Carlson said.

“The people he’s about to defeat have no idea and they’re panicked,” Carlson added. “They have no idea why, people like Donald Trump, and their first theory was, ‘Well, Donald Trump is evil, so half the country’s evil also,’ and that’s one of the reasons they spent the last four years trying to destroy the country, because they’re mad at its voters for liking Donald Trump.”

Carlson continued to call out Democrats’ confusion over voter support for Trump, noting two reasons the former president is popular: his genuine “affection” for voters and the “liberation” he believes Trump has brought to Americans. Carlson argued that, through this liberation, voters have started to see through the “lies” of the Democratic Party, pointing to what he claims is their biggest lie — convincing others they’re “impressive.”

” … But the big lie, you know what the big lie is? The big lie is that they’re impressive. That’s what the big lie is. That the people in charge have somehow earned the right to rule over you and they haven’t. And you know that. These are the single most useless people in the United States. They have no skills whatsoever. They’ve got three quarters of the money, and they didn’t earn it,” Carlson said.

“They set up a system precisely for the purpose of awarding themselves wealth and power when it’s undeserved. You look at Liz Cheney and you ask yourself, honestly, what skill could she possibly have that allowed her to send hundreds of thousands of people to their deaths? Did she earn that?” Carlson asked. “I don’t think she did. No fair system would make Liz Cheney powerful. No fair system would make Larry Fink rich. No fair system would elevate someone like Kamala Harris to a presidential nomination.”

Carlson then stated that by sticking with the party, Trump has inspired Republicans to “call bs” on the “charade” of the Democratic Party. The DCNF co-founder noted that as more people come forward to openly support Trump, it will become harder for voters to believe Harris could win.

“What’s embarrassing is to take a perfectly great country and destroy it as they have … It’s going to be pretty tough for them,” Carlson said. “Ten days from now, to look in the eye to America with a straight face, it’s gonna be pretty hard to look at us and say, ‘You know what? Kamala Harris, she’s just got 85 million votes because she’s just so impressive as the first Samoan Malaysian low IQ, former California prosecutor, ever to be elected president. It was just a groundswell of popular support, and anyone who thinks otherwise just a freak or a criminal.’”

“At this stage of the game, after nine years of listening to their lies and finding every single one of them totally false. No, it’s not safe and effective and no, she’s not impressive,” Carlson added. “It’s very hard for me to believe the rest of us are going to say, ‘You know what? Joe Scarborough, you’re right, you’re right. She won fair and square because she’s just so impressive.’ I don’t think so.”

Carlson concluded by calling this new defiance a liberation and a freedom “to say what’s obviously true,” expressing gratitude to Donald Trump for it.

Trump took the stage last in the evening, greeted by a roaring crowd, and spoke for roughly an hour to supporters. The former president focused on his policy platform, addressing top voter concerns about the economy, inflation and immigration. He encouraged the crowd to vote and noted that Republicans could take both the Senate and House — hinting at an unreleased plan he has discussed with Republican Speaker Mike Johnson to secure Congress.

Featured Image: Gage Skidmore/Flickr

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

(DCNF)—Hoover Institute senior fellow Victor Davis Hanson claimed Friday on his podcast that Democratic lawmakers are now “campaigning” as supporters of former President Donald Trump due to fears that Vice President Kamala Harris may lose this November.

Recent ads from several Democratic Senate candidates appear to praise Trump as their campaigns near an end. On “The Victor Davis Hanson Show,” the senior fellow noted that recent polls now favor Trump, adding that the uptick in support for the former president is beginning to “worry” Democrats down-ballot.

“What’s worrying them now — cause why is [Bob] Casey, for example, or why is Tammy Baldwin or why are any of these Senate [candidates] … campaigning as if they’re Trump supporters? They all voted to impeach him to convict him in the impeachment trial of 2021. They hate him,” Hanson said.

“So it tells me that they don’t have confidence that she’s going to win and why is she doing the interviews when she wouldn’t get close to them? It tells me her internal polls suggest she’s not going to win. And why suddenly is it no longer ‘Trump’s weird,’ ‘Vance is weird’? Now it’s, ‘Unfit dictator — fascist.’ It’s really personal and it’s starting to, as I said before, it’s starting to have the beginning of a 1980 Jimmy Carter sure win mid-October to collapse,” Hanson continued. “That’s what they’re worried about.”

Democratic lawmakers like Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin, and Michigan Rep. Elissa Slotkin launched new political ads in October promoting Trump-era policies, such as increasing the use of American materials in domestic infrastructure projects, supporting fracking and opposing EV mandates.

Since September, Democrats appear to have become increasingly concerned about Harris slipping in the polls, with pundits warning that she is continuing to lose ground among the party’s key voting blocs, particularly Hispanic and black men.

Last week, RealClear Polling averages showed the former president leading in several battleground states. Additionally, the most recent Wall Street Journal poll indicates Trump now leads Harris by two points, with 47% to her 45%.

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(DCNF)—CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten expressed surprise Monday at the degree to which “young black men” are abandoning the Democratic Party

Former President Barack Obama on Thursday urged black men to support Vice President Kamala Harris while speaking at a Pittsburgh-area campaign office, asserting he believes a reason for their reluctance to back her is that they “aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president.” Enten, on “CNN News Central,” said Obama was likely mistaken in his criticism as “young black men” have increasingly been leaving the Democratic Party over multiple elections against former President Donald Trump.

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“I look at the polls all the time and sometimes there’s a trend line, now, I never noticed before and make me go, ‘Woah.’ This is one of them. Alright, this is the Democratic margin among black men under the age of 45 in presidential elections. You go back to November of 2012, what do you see? You see Obama by 81, [former Secretary of State] Hillary Clinton only won ’em by 63,” Enten said. “Then we’re all the way down to [President Joe] Biden last time around by 53. A tremendous drop already. And then you take a look at the average of the most recent polls and Kamala Harris is up by only 41 points.”

“That is about half the margin that Obama won them by back in November of 2012. And this I think is, you know, when Barack Obama goes and last week when he was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to essentially talking to young black men, he made it seem like it was a Kamala Harris-specific problem,” he added. “Uh-uh. This is part of a longstanding trend of young black men moving away from the Democratic Party. And Kamala Harris is just the latest to face that magnitude of black, younger black men going towards Republicans.”

Black voters have shifted away from Democrats from 2016 to 2024, according to a Saturday New York Times/Siena College poll. During the 2016 election, only 7% of black voters favored Republicans, a number now at 15%.

While Trump is gaining traction with “working class voters,” including nonwhite Americans without college degrees and union members, Enten previously noted that Harris could offset his gains with her “ridiculously” strong support among college graduates, particularly “white college grads.”

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Is President Biden so embittered by the forced end of his re-election bid that he’s actively undermining Kamala Harris’ campaign? This question isn’t just rhetorical; a growing chorus of political commentators suggests it’s a reality.

Since being pushed out of the race in July amid concerns over his cognitive fitness, Biden’s support for Harris has been lackluster at best. His endorsement seems to be the extent of his commitment, as he largely remains absent from his vice president’s campaign events.

Biden has repeatedly overshadowed Harris, even going so far as to address the nation about Hurricane Helene just after Harris abruptly canceled a Las Vegas campaign appearance to return to D.C. for the same issue.

The actions of this lame-duck president have provided ample fodder for Trump supporters, who are reveling in his cringe-inducing missteps. From donning a “Trump 2024” cap during a 9/11 commemoration to praising Florida Governor Ron DeSantis amid Harris’ complaints about his unwillingness to take her call, Biden’s choices can only be seen as provocative.

“Biden is intentionally enacting revenge on Kamala for knifing him in the back,” claims Jason Meister, a Republican political strategist who serves on the advisory board for Trump’s campaign.

“He never liked her. The happiest he’s looked in four years was when he put a red [Trump 2024] hat on after speaking with Shanksville, [Pa.] firefighters [last month] on 9/11. He should just come out and endorse Trump.”

The implications of Biden’s actions have not escaped the notice of political insiders. Hank Sheinkopf, a Democratic strategist, notes, “It would be absolutely ridiculous to assume that he has no resentment over how he was treated or how, frankly, he was forced out in what some would describe as a coup.

“Why hasn’t he appeared in places where he could do some good, like parts of Pennsylvania and states that the president has buoyed during his term? Nobody wants to give up being president of the United States – it’s the one job you don’t want to leave.”

Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy took aim at Biden’s apparent disloyalty, stating, “Somewhere deep down inside, in a place that he doesn’t want to admit, I think maybe Joe Biden is actually rooting for it.

“I think it’s clear that Joe is still bruised by what happened.”

In a further commentary on Biden’s mindset, Ramaswamy said, “I don’t think he would have won [a second term], but in his views, and those of his family, they probably think that they were robbed of it.”

Meanwhile, Trump campaign spokesperson Caroline Sunshine weighed in on the subject. “Harris doesn’t need help sabotaging her campaign because she does that herself every time she speaks without a teleprompter, [but] it’s important to remember there is absolutely no daylight between President Biden and Kamala Harris on policy.

“Kamala Harris has said herself she wouldn’t do a single thing differently these last four years, and our campaign will be reminding voters of this fact every day between now and Nov. 5.”

In response to the mounting criticism, White House spokesman Andrew Bates insisted that critics “seem to have missed” Biden’s commitment to Harris, asserting that he “made clear he was all-in for” her “out of the gate when he left the campaign.

“He believes fiercely in an agenda that will move us into the future, away from unhinged divisiveness and extreme policies the country can’t afford to go back to, like MAGAnomics and a national abortion ban.”

It’s clear that the dynamics of this administration are fraught with tension and possible ulterior motives. As the 2024 election approaches, one cannot help but wonder: Is this the end for Harris, or just the beginning of a deeper rift within the Democratic Party?

Article generated from corporate media reports.

(DCNF)—CNN panelist and Axios senior contributor Margaret Talev said Friday that Republican nominee Donald Trump’s 5-point lead in Nevada is “worrisome for Democrats.”

A Wall Street Journal poll released Friday measuring the presidential candidates’ polling in seven swing states found Trump leading Vice President Kamala Harris 47% to 42% in Nevada. Talev said Trump’s lead is likely a result of the voters in Nevada prioritizing the economy and immigration as their top issues.

“It’s pretty worrisome if you’re a Democrat and you’re looking at Nevada,” Talev said. “I do think the economy and the way economic issues and inflation have played are very important in Nevada. I also think, like, both President Biden and Vice President Harris have not been able to regain that really solid lead that Democrats have held in years past with the Latino community, and Latino voters, overall as a bloc, clearly prefer the Democratic candidate to the Republican candidate. But there’s been some slide.”

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The former president holds a 54% to 38% advantage over Harris on the economy and leads 56% to 31% on immigration in Nevada, according to the poll.

The race is essentially tied in six of the swing states, with Harris leading by 1 or 2 points in Georgia, Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin, according to the poll. Trump is leading by 1 point in Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

Trump leads Harris 46% to 45% across all of the seven swing states, according to the poll. Across all of the swing states, the former president holds a 10-point lead against Harris on the economy, 50% to 40%, and secures a 52% to 36% lead on immigration.

The poll surveyed 600 registered voters in each swing state between Sept. 28 and Oct. 8 with a 5% margin of error.

The panel then aired a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, which found Harris leading among Latino voters 54% to 39%. The panel said these results are “bad for Democrats” as Harris is lagging with Latino voters in comparison to past elections.

“It’s bad for Democrats. The interesting thing to me is the way the immigration issue plays into this,” CNN senior political analyst Giorgia Borger said. “There’s a lot of Latino voters who say, ‘look, I don’t like Donald Trump because he’s anti-immigrant’ and then there’s a bloc of Latino voters who oppose illegal immigration because they came in and got their citizenship and they don’t want to make it easier for anybody else, they think that would be unfair.”

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One survey, known as the 2024 Asian American Voter Survey, included 409 registered Korean American voters. The poll found that only 38 percent of respondents identified themselves being Democrats. This marks a substantial decrease from the same survey conducted in 2020, which found that 51 percent of this demographic identified with the Democratic Party. (Related: Poll finds Democrats’ advantage among Hispanic voters continues to SHRINK.)

This shift highlights a growing sentiment among Korean Americans that inflation and economic issues are paramount to historical loyalties to the Democrats.

In fact, 57 percent of respondents labeled jobs and the economy as “extremely important” in casting their vote, with another 33 percent describing these issues as “very important” and nine percent as “somewhat important.” Meanwhile, 58 percent consider inflation as a major concern, with 32 percent describing it as a “very important” issue and eight percent as “somewhat important.”

Housing costs also weigh heavily, with 51 percent deeming the issue “extremely important” to their voting decision, with 35 percent labeling it as “very important,” 10 percent as “somewhat important” and three percent as “not that important.”

These results support the claims of Catherine Kim, an assistant editor at POLITICO Magazine, that “the economy has always been a top priority for Korean Americans,” especially in Gwinnett County, a suburb where inflation severely impacted the Korean American community. This community, according to Kim, poorly evaluated the performance of the current administration.

Support for Trump increasing among Korean Americans

The surveys also reveal increasing support for former President Donald Trump as Korean Americans turn away from the Democratic Party.

One survey conducted from April to May found that only 27 percent of Korean Americans support Trump. However, another survey conducted in early September found that 35 percent of Korean Americans are now supporting Trump due to their belief that he is more capable of dealing with inflation and other economic issues.

Lee Sung Yong, a traditional KBBQ and noodle restaurant owner in Georgia, pointed to the rising costs as a critical factor influencing his vote.

“The price of ingredients has just risen so much — almost 80 percent for certain items,” Lee said in an interview with Kim, confirming he will vote for Trump.

“The yearly costs of my operation have been so different under the two administrations. Eating out has become such a financial burden these days,” he said. “That first and foremost needs to be fixed for us to survive.”

For Lee, a return of the Trump administration represents a potential return to better times for his restaurant.

“I was disappointed with the economy under Biden,” he said. He admitted that the economic policies of Harris as a presidential candidate remains unclear to him, so he is worried that these might as well just continue to exacerbate rising prices and higher taxes. “I don’t know Harris’ economic policies, but won’t the same pattern of rising prices and higher taxes repeat under her, since she was the vice president?”

Visit KamalaHarris.news for related stories about the vice president’s campaign. Watch this video about the mainstream media’s failed attempt to memory-hole any mention of Vice President Kamala Harris being the border czar.

This video is from the Justin Barclay channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

• More Americans identify as Republicans than Democrats for the first time in three decades.
• NOT SENSIBLE: Obama-era economist slams Harris’ grocery price control plan.
• Elon Musk says nobody will bother to try to assassinate Kamala Harris because she’s just another “puppet” of the “machine.”
• POLL: American voters trust Donald Trump more than Kamala Harris on firearms issues.
• Poll: Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Harris-Walz ticket only sways more voters AWAY from Democrats.

Sources include:

• Breitbart.com
• Politico.com
• Brighteon.com

The vast majority of the Democrats in the House (162 of 212) signed the letter, led by Reps. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif.; Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash.; and Mark Pocan, D-Wis. The letter urges the House of Representatives not to include “provisions that actively target LGBTQ+ service members and LGBTQ+ dependents and threaten the recruitment, retention, and readiness of our Armed Forces” in the National Defense Authorization Act, the bill to fund the military.

The NDAA allocates money to the Department of Defense and it is considered one of the must-pass bills in Congress each year. Two of the letter’s signatories, Reps. Colin Allred, D-Texas, and Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., are running for U.S. Senate in their respective states.

The letter flags provisions House Republicans added to the NDAA that would restrict what the Democrats call “medically necessary care for transgender service members or their family members.” In addition to defunding transgender medical interventions, the provisions would prevent military leaders from approving ideological flags like the LGBTQ “Pride” flag. They would also remove pornographic books and books pushing gender ideology from Department of Defense K-12 school libraries, which the Democrats call a “transgender book ban.” They would also ban any of the NDAA funds from going to “a drag show, drag queen story hour, or similar event.”

The 162 Democrats who signed the letter claim that these provisions would exacerbate the U.S. military’s recruitment and retention crisis and that people who identify as transgender are more likely to serve in the military than those who do not so identify.

“As our nation faces recruitment and retention challenges, attacking transgender people—who are more likely to serve in the U.S. military than cisgender people—is a grave mistake,” the Democrats wrote. “If service members are concerned for their health care, their right to exist, or the well-being of their children and loved ones, they cannot focus on their jobs, thereby weakening military readiness and retention rates.”

“The U.S. government should not prohibit our service members from accessing medically necessary care, especially care that is safe, effective, and supported by every major medical association in the U.S., representing more than 1.3 million doctors,” the letter adds. “The care transgender service members receive is essential for them to be their authentic selves and focus on their mission. Denying this access to health care would deter transgender people from joining the Armed Forces, damage retention efforts, and hurt our military readiness.”

Are these claims true?

‘Gender-Affirming Care’

Many states have passed laws banning experimental “transgender” medical interventions for minors, such as so-called puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries that remove healthy breasts or sex organs. There is no conclusive evidence that these interventions, euphemistically referred to as “gender-affirming care,” make life better for people struggling with gender dysphoria (the persistent and emotionally painful condition of identifying with the gender opposite one’s sex).

Internal documents from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, or WPATH, a pro-transgender activist group, revealed that the organization’s leaders knew about various side effects of “gender-affirming care,” including cancer in teens and reduced sexual function, as well as the lack of informed consent for procedures with lifelong impacts. These medical professionals endorse the experimental treatments anyway.

Some doctors have gone on record opposing such treatments. Back in 2023 in Florida, many doctors testified in favor of a rule that would prevent Medicaid dollars from funding “gender-affirming care.” The doctors—including psychiatrists, endocrinologists, neurologists, and a former WPATH leader—testified that these interventions are experimental and may do more harm than good.

“The claim that ‘gender affirming’ drugs and surgery are safe, effective, and medically necessary is a triple lie,” Jay Richards, director of the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Life, Religion, and Family at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal.

“The complications—some that persist for a lifetime—from these experimental procedures are notorious,” he said. “And while some individuals may report relief from symptoms of gender dysphoria in the short term, there’s no evidence that, on balance, medicalizing a therapy for a mental disorder is beneficial. And by definition, these procedures are not medically necessary—since they attempt to treat a psychological disorder with drugs and surgery that does not directly address the psychological disorder.”

“At best, sex trait motivation drugs and surgery are experimental interventions of doubtful benefit and obvious harms,” Richards added. “Subjecting service members to these experiments makes no sense either for the individuals involved or for military readiness.”

Polls have consistently found that more Americans oppose “gender-affirming care” for minors, even when framed in terms most likely to get a favorable response.

An RMG Research poll in March found that only 22% of respondents supported giving minors access to “gender-affirming care,” while 64% said they opposed it.

A 2022 Pew Research Center survey asked respondents whether they would “make it illegal for health care professionals to help someone <18 [under 18] with medical care for gender transition.” Even with this arguably deceptive framing, nearly half of respondents (46%) said they would support such a ban.

Similarly, more Americans (44%) told Pew they would oppose requiring “health insurance companies to cover medical care for gender transitions” than would support it (27%).

From these responses, it seems likely that taxpayer funding for experimental transgender interventions would prove rather controversial.

As for the idea that transgender people are “more likely to serve in the U.S. military than cisgender people,” the claim appears to trace back to an analysis of the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey. That survey, conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality, found that “respondents served in the military at nearly twice the rate as the people in the U.S. population overall.” Since the proportion of the general population who identify as transgender is minuscule, this does not mean that a large proportion of veterans or service members is transgender or that the military would be handicapped without transgender recruits.

Two Senate Candidates

Two of the 162 House Democrats who signed the letter are running for U.S. Senate.

Allred is challenging Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in the Lone Star State, which former President Donald Trump carried in 2016 and 2020. Cruz leads Allred by 5 points in the RealClearPolitics polling average.

“Day after day, Colin Allred shows Texas who he really is,” a spokesman for the Cruz campaign told The Daily Signal in a statement on the letter. “He is a radical who will destroy Texas and America. His record on transgender issues puts our children and families at risk.”

Gallego is running against Republican Kari Lake in Arizona, which is considered a key swing state. Gallego leads Lake by 7 points in the RealClearPolitics average.

“The fact that Ruben Gallego would try to hold up the National Defense Authorization Act to DEMAND that taxpayer money goes to sexual reassignment surgeries is a testament to how radical he truly is,” a spokesperson for Lake’s campaign told The Daily Signal in a statement Tuesday. “Gallego’s radicalism does tremendous harm to our military preparedness and puts our national security at risk.”

18 Swing-District Democrats

Eighteen House Democrats in races the Cook Political Report rates as “competitive” also signed the letter.

Reps. Yadira Caraveo, D-Colo., and Emilia Sykes, D-Ohio, are running in races Cook rates as “toss-ups.”

Eight Democrats in races Cook rates as “lean Democrat” also signed the letter: Reps. Jahana Hayes, D-Ct.; Eric Sorensen, D-Ill.; Frank Mrvan, D-Ind.; Angie Craig, D-Minn.; Susie Lee, D-Nev.; Pat Ryan, D-N.Y.; Andrea Salinas, D-Ore.; and Chris Deluzio, D-Pa.

Eight more Democrats in “likely Democrat” races also signed the letter: Reps. Mike Levin, D-Calif.; Darren Soto, D-Fla.; Sharice Davids, D-Kan.; Hillary Scholten, D-Mich.; Chris Pappas, D-N.H.; Dina Titus, D-Nev.; Steven Horsford, D-Nev.; and Greg Landsman, D-Ohio.

None of these Democrats responded to The Daily Signal’s request for comment by press time.