Trump says he did "very well" with gay voters because he played "YMCA" at campaign events

Donald Trump claimed that he won “the gay vote” in the 2024 election in a Fox News interview yesterday, a claim that is not backed by polling data. He said gay people voted for him because he played “YMCA” by the Village People at campaign events.

Exit polls from the 2024 elections showed that 86% of LGBTQ+ people voted for Kamala Harris, and only 13% of LGBTQ+ people said they voted for Trump. Trump’s claim of winning the gay vote raises questions about the information bubble he’s living in, as his handlers reportedly only give him information that they believe he wants to hear.

He made the claim during a long, rambling response to a question that he didn’t quite address. He called into Fox’s The Five yesterday, and co-host Jesse Watters asked him about Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the former supreme leader of Iran, who was killed a month ago during U.S./Israeli airstrikes on Tehran. Mojtaba Khamenei is the new supreme leader of Iran, and there are rumors, reported by the New York Post earlier this month, that he is gay.

“Let me ask you about Iran,” Watters said. “You kinda suggested that we knocked out Ayatollah Jr. Have we, and did the CIA tell you that Ayatollah Jr. is gay?”

Trump completely ignored the question about whether Mojtaba Khamenei is dead and went straight to the gay.

“Well, they did say that, but I don’t know if it was only them, I think a lot of people are saying that, which puts him off at a bad start in that particular country, you know,” Trump replied.

“I sort of have to smile to myself when I say, I see people trying to defend the Palestinian regime for women and ‘Women for Palestine,’” he continued in an odd cadence that suggested that he doesn’t have much control over his inflection anymore. “But, they kill women if you don’t wear a certain group of… if you don’t wear a certain cloth all over your face, you have no chance of living.”

“And, you know, when I look at ‘Gays for Palestine’… But they kill gays! They kill them instantly, they throw them off buildings,” he said, probably referring to a video of the Islamic State recorded in Syria, which is not Palestine. And Palestine is not Iran, which was the subject of Watters’ question.

“And I’m saying, ‘Who are the gays for Palestine?’ They have a significant amount of gays for Palestine.”

“Now, I think, you know, I did very well with the gay vote, okay?”

“I even had… I even played the ‘gay national anthem’ as my walk-off,” he said, likely referring to “YMCA.” “And I think it probably helped me, but I did great. No Republican has ever gotten the gay vote like I did, and I’m very proud of it, I think it’s great.”

“Perhaps it’s because I’m from New York City, I don’t know. But the ‘gay national anthem’ was my walk-off and I think it probably… But think, gays for Palestine, but they kill gays in Palestine.”

The relevant exchange starts at about the 14:30 mark in the video below.