JD Vance ups anti-trans rhetoric on Joe Rogan podcast

Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance suggested on the Joe Rogan podcast that wealthy white parents might coerce their children into becoming transgender to get them into Ivy League colleges.

“If you are a middle-class or upper-middle class white parent, and the only thing that you care about is whether your child goes into Harvard or Yale, obviously that pathway has become a lot harder for a lot of upper-middle class kids,” Vance, a graduate of Yale Law School, said on “The Joe Rogan Epxerience,” adding that the only way to gain advantage in elite college admisisons “is to be trans” or “gender nonbinary.”

Vance, the junior senator from Ohio, didn’t offer any proof of this assertion.

“Like a lot of what Vance says, there is zero evidence of Vance’s claims being true,” Sarah Kate Ellis, president of the advocacy group GLAAD, said in a staement.

“Being transgender is actually a barrier to many students applying for colleges. More than 20 states have bans or restrictions on best practice health care for transgender youth, making it even harder to find a college in a state that respects trans lives and protects access to health care they need,” she added. “These dangerous and absurd comments are more of the same harmful, fully fabricated rhetoric central to Vance himself and the disinformation he continues to spread.”

Sign-up for Your Vote: Text with the USA TODAY elections team.

More:Joe Rogan says he discussed doing interview with Kamala Harris

Donald Trump’s running mate ramped up his anti-transgender rhetoric in the more than three-hour-long interview filmed Wednesday.

Early in the wide-ranging conversation, the topic switched to transgender rights and gender affirming care for minors. Vance spoke against transgender girls playing on a sports team that matches their gender identity.

“I’m the father of a two-year-old daughter,” Vance said.

More:Election 2024 live updates: Trump attacks Cheney and calls her a ‘war hawk’

The issue has been the focus of anti-Kamala Harris ads that pro-Trump groups have spent millions of dollars to air around weekend NFL games, according to CNN and ABC News.

Vance later added he wouldn’t be surprised if Trump won “the normal gay guy vote.”

In an attempt to counter anti-transgender rhetoric and the pro-Trump ad blitz, the advocacy group GLAAD launched an ad campaign called “Here we are,” highlighting the stories of everyday transgender people.

Vance’s appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience” comes shortly after Trump sat down with Rogan. The podcast is the biggest on Spotify with about 14.5 million followers, many of whom are young men – a key voting bloc the Republican ticket is trying to turn out in the 2024 election.

Karissa Waddick and Kinsey Crowley contributed to this report. Reach Rachel Barber at rbarber@usatoday.com and follow her on X @rachelbarber_