President Donald Trump used an anti-transgender slur in an October 5 social media post attacking Annie Andrews, South Carolina’s Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate seat previously held by the late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham.
In the Truth Social post, Trump paired Andrews’ first name with a rhyming anti-transgender slur.
Taking to his own social media platform, Truth Social, Trump attempted to mock Democrat Annie Andrews by playing on her name and the fact that it rhymes with an anti-transgender slur.
“Annie ‘Trannie’ Andrews is running against our wonderful Darline Graham for the Senate in South Carolina,” Trump wrote in an endorsement of Graham. “For years my dear friend Lindsey would say that, ‘Darline is the finest, most reliable, and one of the smartest people I have ever known.’ He would then always add, ‘Also, the most loyal!’…
“In any event, Darline is a High Quality person, maybe the Highest, and Annie Trannie is not, in particular, as it pertains to representing the Values of the Great People of South Carolina — She is in favor of Transgender for Everyone, Open Borders, Defunding the Police, High Taxes, a Weak Military, and will absolutely fight to take your guns away — In other words, she is against our Great Second Amendment!” Trump continued.
Andrews, who is not transgender, released a statement through her campaign that did not address the slur, instead emphasizing her focus on affordability.
“As a mom and a pediatrician, I’m in this race to fight for my patients, my three kids, and South Carolina,” she said, adding that she would “work with anyone to put South Carolina first.”
“If you care more about your bills than the politics in Washington, this campaign is for you,” she said.
Asked about Trump’s comment at an October 6 campaign stop in Columbia, Andrews said the post was not presidential, as reported by The State.
“If name-calling would help lower gas prices and grocery prices, he can call me all the names he wants,” she said. “But I don’t think that’s going to get the job done.”
A spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign called Trump’s remarks “the sad, disgusting, pathetic diatribes of a lame duck president with record-low approvals.”
Trump’s attack on Andrews underscores Republicans’ vulnerability in the upcoming midterms as the president seeks to ensure the GOP retains control of Congress. Republicans are campaigning heavily and steering money toward candidates in states and districts that Trump won by double-digit margins in 2024, fueling concerns about how the party may fare this cycle.
South Carolina last elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in 1998, when Sen. Fritz Hollings won reelection by a seven-point margin.
Trump’s preferred candidate, Republican Darline Graham, was appointed by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster to serve the remainder of her brother’s term before seeking a full term in her own right. She defeated U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) in the primary runoff by five percentage points.
In a typical political cycle, South Carolina — which Trump won by nearly 18 percentage points in 2024 — would not be competitive. But Trump’s unpopularity — with approval ratings ranging from 32% to 37% — and economic factors like inflation and surging gas prices caused by the war in Iran have made more “safe” Republican seats competitive. The Cook Political Report has shifted its rating of the Senate race from “Solid Republican” to “Likely Republican” as polls show Andrews within striking distance of Graham.
Andrews, who challenged U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) in 2022, has faced previous attacks over her support for transgender rights. During that campaign, Mace accused Andrews of engaging in “child abuse” and supporting surgical interventions for minors with gender dysphoria.
Andrews told Forbes Newsroom in an interview last month that she also doesn’t support “biological men playing in women’s sports” and has never performed a gender-affirming surgery on a minor.
Trump has previously admitted that he likes to use transgender-related issues — from participation in sports to gender-affirming care for minors — as a campaign tactic. He suggested that Republicans would, for at least the fourth consecutive election cycle, use them as a cudgel to portray Democrats as out of step with most Americans on cultural issues.
Leaning into his “trans-as-wedge-issue” strategy, the president also shared an ad attacking Andrews on Truth Social. The ad, from the “Security is Strength” political action committee, depicts a child in a grocery store cowering as she’s approached by a cisgender actor portraying a transgender person — wearing a pink wig, sunglasses, and a bandana, and sporting a pink goatee — playing on age-old tropes of LGBTQ people as child molesters.
The ad also misrepresents Andrews’ positions, claiming the Democrat is “not shy” about supporting medical interventions for minors, including puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries — the latter of which she explicitly opposes.
It further claims that Andrews supports “males competing against female athletes” — contradicting her stated position — and attacks her for supporting “unrestricted” abortion rights.
The “trans” character says, in a menacing voice, “she’s got my vote” before the child’s mother intervenes and chases them away. A narrator then says: “Annie Andrews is for they/them. Not for our values. Not for South Carolina,” echoing a nearly identical line of attack used by Trump and his allies against Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential campaign.
Policies related to gender identity rank lowest among the issues American voters consider important to their vote in next month's midterm elections, according to a CNN poll.
Conducted by independent research company SSRS, the poll surveyed 1,206 U.S. adults online and by telephone September 16-17, including 867 registered voters. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points for all adults and 4.1 points for registered voters.
The poll asked respondents to assess President Donald Trump's job performance and his handling of specific issues. Registered voters were also asked which party's congressional candidates they favored and which issues would influence their vote.
Photos have surfaced showing Chris Gallant, an openly gay congressional candidate and the Democratic nominee for New York's 1st Congressional District, modeling leather and fetish gear.
Gallant, 37, who is challenging incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Nick LaLota, confirmed that he modeled for Mr. S Leather more than 15 years ago. The San Francisco-based retailer sells harnesses, ball gags, collars, jockstraps, and other products.
Jay Katari, a board member of equalpride, the parent company of several prominent LGBTQ publications, has resigned following reports that he had expressed support for President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement.
A straight man, Katari was appointed to equalpride's board of directors by its lead investor group in late August 2026 to serve as a "strategic advisor" for "growth and innovation."
Katari was tasked with helping the company "expand its reach," build commercial partnerships, develop recurring revenue, and guide its transformation from a traditional media company into a platform offering "products, services, and experiences for the LGBTQ+ community and its allies," as reported by Kevin Ortega-Rojas on the Here's Why with Kevin Ortega-Rojas Substack.
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