Transgender Issue Unites Voters Ahead of Midterms | 4.13.25
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What does the new poll reveal about voter opinions on transgender issues?
A new poll suggests the transgender issue continues to be a liability for Democrats.
Who is Terry Schilling and what is the American Principles Project?
In this episode, we speak to the pollster tracking the issue about how much of a swing this one issue could have in 2026. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley. It's Sunday, April 13th, and this is Morning Wire. Joining us to discuss the new poll is Terry Schilling, president of the American Principles Project. Terry, thanks so much for coming on. Thanks for having me.
What were the goals and findings of the American Principles Project's recent poll?
I'm excited to be here. So I want to discuss this poll that you just did with your organization, American Principles Project. You commissioned this looking forward to the 2026 midterms. Can you tell me a little bit about the poll and what you were looking to learn?
Yeah, so we wanted to find out where Americans are at in the debate over transgender ideology, especially when it comes to federal government spending. We wanted to see if Americans want more spending or if they don't want any spending at all.
How does federal spending on gender transition surgeries affect voter support?
And what we found was that a whopping 65% of America does not want federal tax dollars to be going towards any type of transition surgeries or hormone treatments at all. In fact, when they find out that a politician that represents them supports transgender taxpayer funding of these gender transition surgeries, even for children or adults, that they're much less likely to support them, even 52% less likely to support them.
Now, what's the goal of the American Principles Project, and how are you intending to use this data?
What is the American Principles Project's strategy to use this poll data?
Well, we want to protect children. We want to protect parental rights. We call ourselves the NRA, but for families. And we want to be the special interest arm of the American family. And so what we're hoping to do is cut all of these federal expenditures that are pushing transgenderism on our children, both in schools, but also most directly in hospitals and in surgery centers.
How big is the transgender industry and what are its political influences?
We did a whole study on the transgender industry as a whole, and this is just surgeries and hormone treatments. And right now, it's a $4.5 billion industry. And what's dangerous about that is that they are taking the profits from that $4.5 billion and they're reinvesting it in lobbying and legislation and PR campaigns. And they're using this to get to our kids' hearts and minds. So we want to protect our children. And right now, the best opportunity to do that is to defund all of these transition-related surgeries and hormone treatments that the federal taxpayers have been funding.
Now, you mentioned that they're taking these billions and putting them back into lobbying. Has that dovetailed with an increase in support for their cause? Or what are we seeing in terms of trends of how Americans feel about the transgender issue?
What trends are emerging in American attitudes towards transgender policies?
Well, what's interesting is that the more that Americans are exposed to transgender ideology, more specifically the transgender industry's agenda, the more they oppose it. In fact, prior to this last election in 2024, according to CNN's polling, 67% of Americans didn't want men in girls' sports. But you fast forward to the day that President Trump signed his executive order into law to protect girls' sports, and that had jumped up to over 78% of Americans wanting men out of girls' sports. So the more that America is exposed to the transgender industry's agenda for them, the more they oppose it.
In the crosstabs, you can find that 42% of Democrats and 43% of Kamala Harris voters also agree that tax dollars should not be spent on gender transitions. Do you think that this is a weighty enough issue, though, for them to reconsider their vote?
There are already several Democrats who are publicly entertaining the idea of moderating on the issue of transgenderism for their party, specifically when it comes to sports. Gavin Newsom did an interview with Charlie Kirk just a few weeks ago where he advocated for getting men on a girl's sports. We'll see what happens. I'm not very hopeful or optimistic that he'll actually do anything about it.
Can opposition to taxpayer-funded gender transitions influence Democratic voters?
But I do think that Democrats are understanding the political moment that they're in and the political avalanche that they're about to suffer if they keep pushing these policy agendas so hard on the American people.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What does the new poll reveal about voter opinions on transgender issues?
0:03–0:09
2
Who is Terry Schilling and what is the American Principles Project?
0:09–0:35
3
What were the goals and findings of the American Principles Project's recent poll?
0:35–1:03
4
How does federal spending on gender transition surgeries affect voter support?
1:03–1:33
5
What is the American Principles Project's strategy to use this poll data?
1:33–1:55
6
How big is the transgender industry and what are its political influences?
1:55–2:38
7
What trends are emerging in American attitudes towards transgender policies?
2:38–3:52
8
Can opposition to taxpayer-funded gender transitions influence Democratic voters?
3:52–7:59
Speakers
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