Transphobia is the Trump family business these days, if an Instagram post from Donald Jr. is any indication.
On Sunday, the eldest son of President Donald Trump shared a meme mocking trans and non-binary people. In the photo, an individual walks down the street dressed in futuristic attire: space boots, a fur coat, and blue hair reminiscent of The Fifth Element.
The unidentified person is also holding a Louis Vuitton purse.
Meanwhile, a sign in the background reminds Virginia voters to cast a ballot in the midterm elections on Nov. 6. Reading “Blue Wave 2018,” it calls out candidates Tim Kaine and Don Beyer by name.
Given the juxtaposition of Democratic candidates and the individual’s colorfully avant-garde appearance, the photo apes the popular meme, “This Is the Future Liberals Want,” in which a Muslim woman sits on the New York City subway next to a drag queen.
This time around, the caption takes aim at the #NotMyPresident hashtag: “No, no, don’t tell me. Let me guess… Trump is not your president?”
Trump Jr. piled onto the mockery. “I’ll take that bet all day long,” he wrote.
The feedback on Instagram was largely negative. While a typical post on his account attracts 1,000 or 2,000 comments, there are more than 6,900 responses.
Choice comments include: “Not my president either, and that’s a totally fab ensemble,” “Keep this same energy in prison, kiddo,” and “I hope your children grow up to be gay and trans and a drag queen.”
The First Son, however, lashed out at followers who claimed the post was reflective of animus toward the queer and trans community. Responding to a comment asking if Trump Jr. is “against LGBTQ people,” he claimed, “Not at all, and you can find plenty of evidence against that.”
INTO took Trump Jr. at his word, and the results were a mixed bag—to say the least.
The 41-year-old has come out in favor of same-sex marriage in the past, telling comedy podcast The Six Pack in 2012 that he’s “totally for” allowing all couples to wed. “If I have to suffer through marriage, why shouldn’t they?” he asked.
In the next breath, however, Trump Jr. said he “wished every guy was gay” while growing up “because it just meant more women for [him].”
If that didn’t make one question the sincerity of his pro-LGBTQ stance, Trump Jr. has done little to voice support for the community since his father’s inauguration. Instead, he mocked queer and trans students who protested the opening of a Chick-fil-A at Pittsburgh’s Duquesne University, calling them “triggered.”
“Luckily these students won’t likely have to tackle issues more stressful than a yummy chicken sandwich in their lives,” he tweeted in April 2017.
Trump Jr. also lashed out at Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon on Twitter last year after the openly gay athlete called attention to Vice President Mike Pence’s anti-LGBTQ history. Those bullet points include signing a religious freedom bill and contributing to an HIV/AIDS outbreak as governor of Indiana.
Meanwhile, Trump Jr. has yet to break from his father’s administration on any key LGBTQ issues—whether trans inclusion in the military or discrimination against queer and transgender employees in the workplace.
Fittingly for someone with such a mixed record on equality, Trump Jr. failed to see what was “homophobic about [his social media] post.”
The First Family member counts 1.5 million followers on Instagram.
Header image via Getty
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