The White House has updated its website to attack previous Democratic presidents as it lashes out against critics of Donald Trump’s destruction of a third of the White House without Congressional authorization.

The White House website has a timeline of “Major Events” that now includes several scandals – some real, some imagined by the right – likely as a way to justify the president’s destruction of the East Wing this week. These scandals include former President Bill Clinton’s affair, former President Barack Obama’s supposed ties to Muslim terrorism (which was not a real story), Hunter Biden’s drug use, and former President Joe Biden’s support for trans rights.

Related

It’s time to invoke the 25th Amendment to protect America from Donald Trump

For the last one, the website says, “The Biden/Harris administration hosts transexuals at the White House in 2023, and goes on to establish the ‘The Transgender Day of Visibility’ on the same day as Easter Sunday in 2024.”

That is not true, but it is a recitation of the myth repeated by numerous Republican leaders since 2023. The Trans Day of Visibility was established in 2009, long before Biden took office, and has always been on March 31. In 2023, that happened to fall on Easter Sunday because Easter changes its date each year.

Insights for the LGBTQ+ community

Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

The picture that the Trump White House chose to accompany the statement is also misleading. It comes from a White House Pride celebration held in June 2023, months after the Trans Day of Visibility. At that celebration, trans influencer Rose Montoya went topless with two trans men and posted a video of it to social media. The Biden White House immediately condemned her behavior as “inappropriate and disrespectful” and banned Montoya from all future events.

But the right held on to the pictures and shared them on social media for years. It is unclear why conservatives were so offended by Montoya going topless – and not the trans men who were with her – if they truly believe that trans women are actually men.

The changes to the White House website come as the president destroyed about a third of the White House without prior authorization in order to construct a ballroom that will cost hundreds of millions of dollars. This comes just months after Trump promised that the construction of the ballroom wouldn’t “interfere with the current building” because “it’ll be near it, but not touching it, and pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of.”

Images of the destruction of the White House have shocked Americans this past week. 53% of Americans disapprove of demolishing the East Wing in a YouGov America poll, and only 45% of Republicans support it.

“It’s not his house. It’s your house. And he’s destroying it,” former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said. As First Lady in the 90s, she resided at the White House for eight years.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said yesterday that the ballroom’s construction is Trump’s “main priority,” as she claimed that criticism of the destruction is “fake outrage” and that the ballroom that will replace the East Wing will make the White House “more modern and beautiful than ever.”

The White House claims the ballroom’s construction will be privately funded, raising questions about corruption, as critics say donors to Trump’s ballroom project could exert undue influence on the administration.

“So The People’s House is basically being sold to the highest bidder. It is corruption at its core,” out former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said this week. “There’s no greater metaphor right now than what’s happening right now in this country than watching Donald Trump take a wrecking ball to the White House.”

Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.