Donald Trump Jr. Rails Against ‘Radical Transgender Agenda’ in Toronto Speech

Donald Trump Jr. speaks in Toronto, Ontario, on May 10, 2024. Chris Tomlinson/The Epoch Times

TORONTO—Donald Trump Jr., the son of former U.S. President Donald J. Trump, spoke out against what he called the “radical transgender agenda” during a speech in Toronto on May 10.

“Parents aren’t allowed to have a say” about their children, he told the conference audience. A “rainbow-haired teacher convinced them that they should have a permanent sex change operation, they should be on hormones for the rest of their life. And, you know, if it doesn’t work out, everyone’s immune. The doctors are immune.”

He also noted the recent wave of violent attacks by people identifying as being transgender, including the Covenant School murders in Nashville on March 27, 2023.

Earlier this year in February, another transgender shooter opened fire at a Houston, Texas, church but was subdued by two off-duty police officer before being able to kill anyone. Just two months later in April, a transgender teenager was arrested for allegedly plotting a shooting at a local school in Montgomery, Maryland.

“Per capita, by far the most violent group of individuals right now is the radical trans agenda,” Mr. Trump said.

Some experts have suggested that mental health issues combined with the use of cross-sex hormones can lead to more violent behaviour.

The conference was organized by social media video website Rumble and Canadian media outlet Rebel News. Among the presenters and panelists were journalist Glenn Greenwald, media personality and lawyer David “Viva Frei” Freiheit, and Rebel founder Ezra Levant, who spoke about freedom of speech issues.

Mr. Trump addressed several Canadian topics, including the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), quoting an article that stated Canada was unable to field troops to help with security in Haiti.

“You guys fought in Afghanistan, and now you don’t have the capabilities? We get it, like everyone’s got to be transgender or something like that. So that takes a lot of time and energy, probably doesn’t end up allowing you to recruit the best,” he said.

“‘The recruiting numbers are down and we can’t figure it out.’ I’m like, ‘You can’t figure it out? I’ve got a couple of ideas: Stop doing drag queen story hour on a military base,’” he added.

CAF recruitment has been in a slump for several years, with more people leaving the military than entering, according to Defence Minister Bill Blair, who said in March that the CAF faces a “death spiral” if trends continue.

The minister said his department is taking “meaningful steps” to recruit more talent to the military.

A proposed monument to the LGBT community in Ottawa also became a target for Mr. Trump, who said, “In Canada, they’re considering the world’s first national 2SLGBTQIA+ monument which only costs $13 million, but I’m sure there'll be a lot of money left over once they steal all of the money by raising your capital gains tax to 66 percent.”

The federal government is raising capital gains taxes as part of the 2024 budget to raise revenues. Small business groups and other professional groups, such as the Canadian Medical Association, have said this change will negatively affect them and lead to doctors leaving the country.

The Liberal government says the increase will only impact 0.13 percent of Canadians and 12.6 percent of businesses, and that the change means the wealthiest Canadians will pay for required government expenditures.

Treatment of Protesters

During his speech, Mr. Trump also mentioned the Freedom Convoy protesters from 2022, comparing the way they were treated by the government to the ongoing pro-Palestinian protests.

“I noticed that the truckers were not afforded the same luxury of having the government pay for their bathrooms. I know that they were arrested. I know that they were debanked. I know they were threatened with their livelihoods and their jobs,” he said.

Tamara Lich, one of the most prominent figures of the Freedom Convoy and an attendee at the conference, spoke about Bill C-63, the Online Harms Act. The legislation was a main topic of discussion for several other speakers at the event, including Mr. Levant, who opened the conference with a primer on the bill.

Online Harms Bill

The legislation is intended to add more protection for children online, says the government, and adds large penalties for online platforms that fail to make certain content inaccessible.

The bill also adds a number of provisions to tackle “hate speech” that have come under criticism by civil liberties groups and free speech advocates.

These include imposing restrictions on an individual if a judge has “reasonable grounds” to believe the person may commit a future hate crime. The person could be sent to jail for not abiding by the restrictions.

The bill also amends the Canadian Human Rights Act to specify that posting “hate speech” online is discrimination, and allows people to file complaints against the poster with the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

Pointing to that provision in the bill, Mr. Levant said someone making a complaint could be awarded as much as $20,000, while the government could collect a further $50,000.

“So this is turning hecklers into prosecutors. And I think it’s a disaster,” Mr. Levant said, adding that he foresees his outlet becoming a primary target under the legislation.

The federal government has said the legislation is needed to make the internet safe.

“Social media is everywhere,” Justice Minister Arif Virani told a parliamentary committee on March 21. “It brings unchecked dangers and horrific content. This frankly terrifies me. We need to make the internet safe.”