This story originally appeared on Them.
The “blue tsunami” of historic Democratic wins during the U.S. midterm elections confirmed what model Vivian Wilson already knew: investing in a transphobic campaign strategy is cheap talk when people can’t pay for groceries or gas.
In an article for The Guardian about youth voters, Wilson, a model who became estranged from her billionaire father Elon Musk after coming out as transgender as a teenager, observed that affordability is what cost conservatives key races, despite the estimated $183 million Republicans spent on anti-trans ads this cycle.
“With the price of gas what it is alongside a hiring freeze, the only solution offered by the Republican party was to blind yourself with bigotry and pick a God and pray – except it has to be the Christian one, or else,” Wilson said. “Spending hundreds of millions of dollars on ‘trans kids boogieman’ ads makes voters feel like they’re being talked down to or ignored – which they were – rather than focusing on any actual tangible policy for change.”
Though Wilson didn’t refer to her estranged father by name, Musk marshalled nearly $500 million to elect Republican candidates, far outstripping any other outside donor. Musk spent nearly $216 million through his own America Pac, with much of that money going toward ads targeting Democratic Senator-elect James Talarico with anti-trans rhetoric, according to a Guardian analysis of his spending.
Wilson told The Guardian that in addition to focusing its campaign effort on anti-trans misinformation, the Republican Party has blundered on a number of important voting issues for young people: violence by ICE agents in American cities, the escalating war in Iran, and the United States’ support of Israel, all while many people can’t afford the cost of living.
In a June poll conducted by GLAAD ahead of the midterm elections, the vast majority of people said they cared more about affordability than attacking transgender people. Additionally, 75% of people surveyed said they would support a candidate who says “we all deserve the freedom to live our lives” and 65% of respondents said they felt politicians scapegoated trans people as a distraction from other issues.
Wilson said that all of these compounding pressures have led to a record-breaking wave of Democratic candidates across the country.
“There have been so many nails placed in this coffin that it’s turning into a Theseus’ ship kind of situation,” she said.
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