JD Vance told Joe Rogan he thinks there’s a good chance Donald Trump could win the “normal gay vote” in next week’s presidential election.
The vice presidential candidate, 40, said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if his ticket won over traditionally left-wing voters because things have simply become too “crazy” for them.
“They just want to be left alone and now there’s all this crazy stuff on top of that,” Vance said.
He supported his claim by citing an unnamed “gay friend” who sent him a clip of Elizabeth Warren talking about gender identity in 2020.
Vance’s comment divided opinion online, with opponents calling him “absurd” and questioning what a “normal” homosexual is. However, advocates argued that he was making a broader point about transgender issues being lumped in with gay rights.
JD Vance raised eyebrows during his appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience when he predicted that he and Donald Trump could win the “normal gay vote.”
Vance’s appearance on Rogan’s popular podcast comes days after Donald Trump first joined the comedian for a widely watched episode earlier this week
Vance’s appearance on Rogan’s popular podcast came just days after Donald Trump first joined the comedian for a widely watched episode earlier this week.
A 10-second clip of Vance talking about the “normal vote for gays” was quickly shared by Kamala Harris’ campaign on social media, but some said the comment was taken out of context.
In a longer segment, Vance draws a comparison between religious fanatics who stubbornly believe in their faith and transgender activists who advocate for minors to receive gender-affirming treatment.
He pointed to liberal “in this house we believe” signs, such as the text “we believe in science, etc.,” and said they reminded him of a Catholic statement of faith that children say when they are at school.
“There’s almost a similar cadence between the Christian faith and what these guys are doing with this hyper-woke stuff,” he said.
“And then of course there are the gatherings, and there are rituals, and it (transgenderism) is definitely a religious belief.
“When you get into the really radical trans stuff, you actually start to notice the similarities between a practiced religious faith and what these guys are doing.”
Vance predicted that he and Trump, pictured Thursday in New Mexico, would win over the traditionally left-wing voter bloc because “they just want to be left alone and now you have all these crazy things on top of that.”
Vance went on to say that a gay friend of his sent him a clip of Elizabeth Warren during her 2020 presidential run, as a tribute to her “two spirit” supporters — a Native American gender identity for someone who identifies as both male and female — and said : this left him bewildered.
He said his friend’s reaction to the video was: “I don’t know what the hell two spirit is, I just want to be left alone.”
Vance then said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if he and Trump got the votes of gay men like the one who sent him the Warren tweet, repeating, “They just want to be left alone and now you have all this crazy things. on top of it.’
Vance’s comments were criticized by liberals on social media after the Rogan episode aired Thursday night, with one calling him “terrible.”
“It’s enriching to hear JD Vance try to talk about ‘normal gay men’ as if he hasn’t spent years promoting the idea that just being gay is abnormal and immoral,” said another. “Now he wants to move the goalposts to create division within our community. It’s dirty.’
Vance’s comments were criticized by liberals on social media after the Rogan episode aired Thursday night, with one calling him “terrible.”
Later in the podcast, Vance seemed to try to clarify his comparison between transgenderism and religion.
He said there was “one big difference,” namely that “woke stuff” does not include “forgiveness and redemption.”
The senator also said that most Americans do not have strong opinions about transgender people, but draw the line at transgender women playing sports against biological women.
“(Americans) don’t really care who you sleep with,” he said.
“They’re pretty open-minded about most lifestyle choices. But when you talk about having a biological man compete with his teenage girl in competitive sports, Americans say, no, no, no, no. Yes. This is crazy. You are causing harm to my children. We have to stop this.’