In a wide-ranging YouTube interview with influencer and boxer Jake Paul, President Donald Trump invoked persecution of LGBTQ+ people in Iran while defending U.S. military strikes against the country. The nearly 30-minute conversation, posted Friday, moved between boxing, social media, war, and politics.
During a discussion about the expanding conflict involving Israel, U.S. forces, and Iran, Paul said he was surprised that some activists criticized Trump’s military actions while advocating for women’s rights. Paul said, “I was a bit shocked that so many activists in America didn’t like it…Meanwhile, they were like, ‘Oh, well, we support women. We want women to have all these rights…Meanwhile, you’re liberating the women of Iran.” Trump responded to this by referencing LGBTQ+ persecution in Iran.
He said, “We support gays, but they throw gays off the buildings.” However, advocates note a contradiction in this statement. America’s approach is not LGBTQ friendly when it comes to immigration policy. Earlier this year, authorities sought to deport a gay Iranian couple seeking asylum in the United States back to Iran, where they could face severe punishment. During the interview, Trump also defended recent strikes against Iranian military infrastructure and repeated several disputed claims about U.S. crime rates and the 2020 election. At one point, Trump summarized his outlook on politics and conflict: “There’s no feeling like winning.”
