January 1, Trump’s Culture War Ad Strategy Shapes 2024 Win

Wyatt’s Take

• Trump zeroed in on gender issues to sway swing voters.
• Ads blended culture war and pocketbook messages, resonating with families.
• The left is gearing up for legal fights against these policies.

President-elect Trump’s campaign leaned on ads blasting the push for men in women’s sports and sex change procedures for prisoners. That focus, a conservative leader says, helped win crucial swing votes in 2024.

The tagline from Trump’s ad hammered home the difference:

“Kamala is for they/them, President Trump is for you.”

These ads, led by the American Principles Project, took aim at Kamala Harris’s record and made the gender debate personal for everyday Americans. The group’s president, Terry Schilling, started pushing this angle years ago, even when it was considered too early by some folks on the right.

Schilling said,

“The cue of giving sex change procedures to inmates is so radical, it’s so extreme, and it’s one of those issues that touches on not just the culture war, but the economy, too.”

He pointed out how working families are barely making ends meet, yet see tax money devoted to expensive medical procedures for convicted criminals. Schilling added,

“When you go to prison, you have to lose some rights, and it was an issue that really resonated. Trump gets so much credit…for that closing line of, ‘Kamala Harris is for they/them, Donald Trump’s for you.’ He’s so good at the branding.”

The American Principles Project ramped up its funding, growing fundraising from $12 million to $18 million, aiming more messages about transgender policies across battleground states. Republicans reportedly poured over $215 million into ads on these issues. Schilling also recalled a women’s sports ad featuring Riley Gaines advocating for a GOP candidate in Kentucky.

By summer, the group dropped an $18 million ad blitz targeted at Harris and other Democrats for their stance on transgender policies. Their research and message testing hit its stride this election cycle, after years of groundwork.

Schilling argued that Republicans lost ground in the past because they failed to highlight Democrats’ extremism on these matters. Lately, the shift has magnified as the Biden administration, according to recent court documents, influenced transgender medical guidelines without age limits for adolescents, igniting fears for parents nationwide.

Over a dozen states have now banned surgeries and hormones for kids, while several liberal states declare themselves sanctuaries shielding providers from accountability. While the Trump team’s strategy got pushback, the opposition warned of legal showdowns if these new policies take hold.

As the election cycle heats up, the American Civil Liberties Union vows to launch legal battles on the Trump policies, especially around border security, abortion, and LGBTQ rights. They challenged the Trump administration hundreds of times before and promise to keep fighting measures like barring biological males from women’s sports or bathrooms.

This political divide on cultural issues isn’t going anywhere, but this election, Trump’s team crafted a message that clearly connected with Middle America.

Want to dig deeper into the story and see how these ad campaigns evolved? Read more at the source below.

Wyatt Matters

When politicians talk about “they/them” issues, it often feels like they forget the people working double shifts or raising families here at home. This election, kitchen-table worries about safety, fairness, and where your taxes go hit close to home, and those are the issues folks showed up to vote on.

Full story at Fox News