In a recent Fox News phone interview, President Donald Trump claimed strong support from LGBTQ voters while referencing his campaign music choices. During a discussion about Iran’s leadership, Trump shifted to what he described as the gay vote.
He said, “I did very well with the gay vote. I even played the gay national anthem as my walk-off. And I think it probably helped me…But I did great. No Republicans ever got the gay vote like I did, and I’m very proud of it. I think it’s great. Perhaps it’s because I’m from New York City, I don’t know. But the gay national anthem was my walk-off.”
Trump appeared to refer to YMCA, the 1978 hit by the Village People, a song long associated with queer culture due to interpretations of its lyrics and its popularity within gay communities. However, Victor Willis, the group’s lead singer and songwriter, has consistently rejected the label. He reiterated in 2024 that he did not intend for YMCA to be a gay anthem and rather warned that such assumptions were “damaging to the song.”
