Trump questions acceptance of transgender people as he courts his base at Moms for Liberty gathering

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump lamented the growing acceptance of transgender Americans Friday in an appearance at the annual gathering of Moms for Liberty, a national nonprofit that has spearheaded efforts to get mentions of LGBTQ+ identity and structural racism out of K-12 classrooms.

Trump said transgender women should not be allowed to play in women's sports and said access to gender-affirming health care should be restricted. He also lashed out at critics who have accused him of using Arlington National Cemetery for a campaign photo op.

But he largely stuck to his favorite topics during an hourlong “fireside chat” in Washington, where he lashed out at President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, deplored illegal immigration and reminisced about his parents' marriage, his path to being the reality television star of “The Apprentice” and the debate that ended Biden's reelection campaign.

“Our country is being poisoned. And your schools and your children are suffering greatly because they’re going into the classrooms and taking disease, and they don’t even speak English," Trump said of immigrants crossing the border illegally. "It’s crazy.”

Trump said school boards have become “like dictatorships" hostile to the desires of parents, echoing conservative frustration that bubbled over in public meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’m for parental rights all the way. I don’t even understand the concept of not being,” Trump said.

Trump did not address the U.S. Army's allegation that an Arlington National Cemetery official was “ abruptly pushed aside ” in an altercation with Trump aides this week while he visited the graves of servicemembers killed in a terrorist attack during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. But he said he's gotten to know the families and they asked to take a photo with him.

Photos of the cemetery visit showed Trump standing by the graves and flashing a thumbs-up sign next to relatives of Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover and Sgt. Nicole Gee.

“These people are devastated,” Trump said Friday. “These people can never ever be the same. And it was all because of Biden.”

Trump entered a hotel ballroom in Washington as he does at his signature rallies, standing and soaking up applause for the entirety of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA,” followed by chants of “Trump, Trump, Trump." Seated onstage with the co-founder of Moms for Liberty, Tiffany Justice, he shared some of his favorite stories that are mainstays at his rallies, bouncing from topic to topic in a style that has become familiar to his supporters.

The former president sought to shore up support and enthusiasm among a major part of his base. The bulk of Moms for Liberty's 130,000-plus members are conservatives who agree with him that parents should have more say in public education and that racial equity programs and transgender accommodations don’t belong in schools.

Yet Trump also runs the risk of alienating some moderate voters, many of whom see Moms for Liberty’s activism as too extreme to be legitimized by a presidential nominee.

A year ago, Moms for Liberty was viewed by many as a rising power player in conservative politics that could be pivotal in supporting the Republican ticket. The group’s membership skyrocketed after its launch in 2021, fueled by parents protesting mandatory masking for students and remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But in the last several months, a series of embarrassing scandals and underwhelming performances during local elections have called Moms for Liberty’s influence into question.

The group also has voiced support for Project 2025, a detailed and controversial playbook for the next conservative presidency from which Trump has repeatedly tried to distance himself.

Moms for Liberty serves on the advisory board for Project 2025, and the author of the document’s education chapter taught a “strategy session” at the group’s Friday gathering.

The negative perceptions about Moms for Liberty around the country could increase the potential liability for Trump as he sits down with co-founder Justice, said University of Central Florida political science professor Aubrey Jewett.

“It certainly helps him rally his base,” Jewett said. “But will that be enough to outdo the backlash?”

In an interview before the event, Justice disputed the idea that her group's influence is waning, pointing to the 60% of Moms for Liberty-backed candidates who won their recent races in the Florida primaries.

That’s “a really big deal,” she said, especially considering that many of the school board hopefuls the group endorses are first-time candidates running against incumbents. She also noted three Moms for Liberty members who won Florida House primaries, showing the group's reach into other political offices.

Trump spent several minutes of the fireside chat discussing transgender issues in adult sports, including the recent Olympics, where vitriol erupted over a female boxer who was widely misidentified as transgender.

Trump falsely claimed Algerian boxer Imane Khelif “transitioned” and said he wouldn’t want to fight her. Khelif was assigned female at birth.

Trump's education proposals include promoting school choice, giving parents more say in education and awarding funding preference to states and school districts that abolish teacher tenure, financially reward good teachers and allow parents to directly elect school principals.

He also has called for terminating the Department of Education, barring transgender athletes from playing in girls’ sports, and cutting funding from any schools pushing “inappropriate racial, sexual or political content" and from schools with vaccine mandates. He offered no new education proposals Friday.

The event took on a party-like atmosphere as the group awaited Trump's arrival to a hotel ballroom in Washington. Donning shirts with messages like “Moms for Trump” and “We don’t co-parent with the government,” attendees at the group’s annual gathering ate buffet desserts, drank beer and cheered to a cover band playing country hits.

Vice President Kamala Harris has criticized her Republican opponent for his threats to dismantle the Department of Education. She also has spoken out against efforts to restrict classroom content related to race.

Democrats have lauded her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, for an executive order he signed protecting the rights of LGBTQ people to receive gender-affirming health care in his state. Republicans, including Trump, have lambasted him for it.

During a campaign stop earlier Friday in Johnstown in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, Trump offered extensive criticism of the media for what he called unfavorable coverage and singled out CNN for its interview with Harris and Walz on Thursday.

Moments later, a man rushed the media area and made it over a bike rack barrier and close to a riser where television reporters were watching the rally. Private security pushed him back, and the man was eventually subdued by law enforcement using a Taser.

Trump at first said of the man, “he’s on our side,” but it’s not clear what his intent was. As police led the man away, the former president declared, “Is there anywhere that’s more fun to be than a Trump rally?”

Associated Press writer Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix contributed.

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Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump gestures after speaking with Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice during an event at the group's annual convention in Washington, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives to speak with Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice during an event at the group's annual convention in Washington, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump gestures after speaking at a campaign event, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in Johnstown, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks with Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice during an event at the group's annual convention in Washington, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Moms for Liberty co-founder Tina Descovich speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at the Moms for Liberty annual convention in Washington, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Police remove a man, center with sunglasses, who had climbed onto the media riser, as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in Johnstown, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives at a campaign event, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in Johnstown, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in Johnstown, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in Johnstown, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump smiles as he speaks at a campaign event, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in Johnstown, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at Alro Steel, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, in Potterville, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

BUKWO, Uganda (AP) — Thousands of mourners in Uganda paid respects to Rebecca Cheptegei, the Olympic athlete who died last week in Kenya after her partner set her on fire, at a military funeral in a remote town near the Kenyan border.

Military officers played a prominent role in the funeral because Cheptegei held the rank of sergeant in Uganda's army, said military spokesman Brig. Felix Kulayigye, adding that she deserved a “gun salute that befits her rank."

Athletes, family members and others delivered their eulogies before thousands in a sports field in the district of Bukwo.

Cheptegei, who was 33, will be buried later on Saturday.

She died after her body suffered 80% burns in the attack by Dickson Ndiema, who doused her in gasoline at her home in western Kenya’s Trans-Nzoia County on Sept. 3. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed to his injuries.

According to a report filed by the local chief, they quarreled over a piece of land the athlete bought in Kenya.

The horrific gasoline attack shocked many and strengthened calls for the protection of female runners facing exploitation and abuse in the East African country.

Cheptegei’s body was returned to Uganda Friday in a somber procession following a street march by dozens of activists in the western Kenyan town of Eldoret who demanded an end to physical violence against female athletes.

Cheptegei is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in a worrying pattern of gender-based violence in recent years. Kenya’s high rates of violence against women have prompted several marches this year.

Ugandan officials have condemned the attack, demanding justice for Cheptegei. First lady Janet Museveni, who also serves as Uganda’s education and sports minister, described the attack as “deeply disturbing.”

Don Rukare, chairman of the National Council of Sports of Uganda, said in a statement on X that the attack was “a cowardly and senseless act that has led to the loss of a great athlete.”

Four in 10 women, or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women, have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey.

Many Ugandan athletes train across the border in Kenya, an athletics powerhouse with better facilities. Some of the region’s best runners train together at a high-altitude center in Kenya’s west.

Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics, finishing in 44th place, less than a month before the attack. She had represented Uganda at other competitions.

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Muhumuza reported from Kampala, Uganda.

Members of the public gather for a funeral service of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei ahead of her burial in Kapkoros, Bukwo District, Uganda Saturday, Sept. 14. 2024. (AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda)

Members of Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) carry the coffin of their colleague Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Koriny Cheptegei, ahead of her burial in Kapkoros, Bukwo District, Uganda Saturday, Sept. 14. 2024. (AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda)

Members of Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) stand at the casket of their colleague Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Koriny Cheptegei, ahead of her burial in Kapkoros, Bukwo District, Uganda Saturday, Sept. 14. 2024. (AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda)

Members of the public gather for a funeral service of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei ahead of her burial in Kapkoros, Bukwo District, Uganda Saturday, Sept. 14. 2024. (AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda)

Mourners pay respects to Ugandan athlete who died after her partner set her on fire

Mourners pay respects to Ugandan athlete who died after her partner set her on fire

FILE -Rebecca Cheptegei, competes at the Discovery 10km road race in Kapchorwa, Uganda, Jan. 20, 2023. (AP Photo, File)