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"It doesn't even work," the trans actor reminded viewers on The Daily Show.
When "the Republican Party is going all in on its transphobia," Laverne Cox pushes back.
The trans actor and icon recently appeared on an episode of The Daily Show to tackle some of the GOP's most blatant misinformation ahead of the November 5 elections. She began by referencing a report from The New York Times earlier this month which found that Republicans have spent more than $65 million on attack ads against the trans community since August.
"Seriously, $65 million on anti-trans ads?" Cox said. "Do you know how disappointing it is to finally have someone spend $65 million on me and it's for this crap?"
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Former president Donald Trump and other Republicans have released several television advertisements in the past two months to repeat in battleground states — airing heavily during college sports games — that push false claims about gender-affirming care and transgender athletes. As politicians whip their supporters into frenzies based on lies, Cox noted that "it's no wonder we're seeing so much anti-trans violence and suicide," referencing a report fromThe Advocate that found hate crimes against trans people have spiked in recent years.
"This is straight out of the bigotry handbook: using dehumanizing language on marginalized groups provides a permission structure to attack them, because when people are rendered no longer human, you can take away their rights, commit violence against them with impunity," Cox said. "But trans people are people — people with actual thoughts and feelings."
The segment then played a clip featuring a completely made-up claim from Trump that children are undergoing gender-affirming surgery in public schools, which Cox expertly shot down. "You think teachers can convince kids to get gender-affirming care? Teachers can't even get kids to wear deodorant," she said.
"We're just trying to live our lives. We just simply want to be who we are and not experience stigma, violence, and discrimination for it," Cox continued. "And most people understand this, but because that is such a simple and noncontroversial truth, Republicans have to flood the airwaves with made-up fearmongering."
Cox then pointed out the "crazy" part — that releasing anti-trans ads "doesn't even work with their electoral chances." She noted that "Republicans tried anti-trans campaigns in 2022 and they were unsuccessful," referencing the several anti-LGBTQ+ candidates who have been rejected by voters over the past several years.
"So, why are they doing them again?" Cox asked. "Is it possibly because it's easier than solving problems that actually exist? Yeah, that is the reason."
