CBS News
Trump campaign has spent millions on anti-trans ads
Washington — Former President Donald Trump’s campaign and his allies have spent tens of millions of dollars on political ads focusing on transgender rights issues in the weeks leading up to the election.
The Trump campaign has spent more than $19 million on two television ads that have aired nearly 55,000 times since Oct. 1, according to data from AdImpact. Make America Great Again Inc., the leading super political action committee supporting Trump, has spent more than $1.1 million during the same time period on a similar ad that has aired more than 6,000 times.
The campaign’s ads are playing in all battleground states and airing during NFL and college football games, a Trump campaign official said.
The ads focus on taxpayer-funded gender transitions for people in prison and immigrant detainees. They use Vice President Kamala Harris’ comments from 2019 in which she said she supported transgender inmates having access to gender-affirming surgery. She made similar comments in an American Civil Liberties Union questionnaire in 2019, saying she supported “medically necessary care” for federal inmates and detained migrants.
“Kamala is for they/them,” one ad says. “Trump is for you.”
The answer in the questionnaire “is not what she’s proposing, it’s not what she’s running on,” Harris’ communications director, Michael Tyler, told Fox News in September.
Only 38% of voters said transgender rights are extremely or very important to their vote choice in November, according to a recent Gallup poll. A 2023 poll from Gallup showed a growing majority of Americans believed transgender athletes should only be allowed to compete on sports teams that matched their gender at birth. Only 26% believed transgender athletes should be able to play on teams that match their gender identity.
Voters have said their top concerns are issues like the economy, abortion and immigration.
The Trump campaign is betting that with time dwindling until Nov. 5, the issue of transgender rights will sway voters more than the economy or immigration.
“It’s the last thing on Earth they want to talk about,” co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita told NBC News. “So we’ll talk about it for them.”
Trump has underscored that on the campaign trail, often repeating a line about “keeping men out of women’s sports” — it often gets the most applause at his rallies.
Trump is not the only candidate using the issue to criticize his Democratic rival. The debate over transgender girls in sports and locker rooms is featured in Republican ads in key Senate races.
Cameron Shelton, a political economy professor at Claremont McKenna College, said political ads typically don’t persuade voters but rather confirm preexisting feelings that could fuel turnout.
“[Republicans] are trying to find an issue on which the majority is on their side,” said Shelton, who has researched the impacts of campaign ads in previous election cycles. “What they’re trying to say is, ‘Hey, look, forget about these other things that we disagree on. If I can remind you that you agree with me on transgender rights…’ Then maybe that’ll spill over.”
In a memo earlier this month, the Human Rights Campaign highlighted the lack of success that anti-transgender ads had in previous elections, including in Senate and gubernatorial races and on ballot measures.
“Anti-trans attacks don’t work,” Human Rights Campaign spokesperson Brandon Wolf said. “Time and time again this kind of fear mongering has been a political loser, and the American people will see through it again in November.”
contributed to this report.
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Bogus videos from the hurricanes are going viral. Here’s how to spot old and fabricated footage online.
As Hurricane Milton slammed Florida’s west coast, dozens of misleading or AI-generated videos spread on social media, racking up millions of views across platforms. One video, falsely said to show Milton, was actually filmed from a 2021 nor’easter in Massachusetts. Another montage, which had 1.5 million views on X, contained AI-generated footage.
CBS News
Experts say misleading visuals regularly go viral after major natural disasters, often with the aim of amassing views or spreading false claims. The National Weather Service has previously warned of “false or purposely inaccurate severe weather reports” on social media, featuring photos or video taken from events “that happened months to a few years ago.”
Cayce Myers, a professor of public relations at Virginia Tech, said viral AI-generated images during Hurricane Helene showcase the challenges with AI and social media.
“AI technology is providing greater ability to create realistic images that are deceptive,” Myers said, adding, “The problem is these fake images influence peoples’ perception of reality, and social media fuels the spread of this disinformation.”
How to spot bogus videos online
The CBS News Confirmed team has compiled these tips on how to spot bogus videos that often appear after natural disasters:
- Take a moment to think about the media you are seeing. Does the footage appear to match other photos and videos of the location it was filmed, or are there things that seem out of place? Are there elements that suggest the video has been fabricated, like the unrealistic-looking waves in this AI-generated TikTok video?
- Check for other photos or videos of the same location or scene. What do the other angles show, and do they appear to match? If not, it’s possible that the footage is either from a previous weather event or potentially AI-generated.
Julia Feerrar, an associate professor at Virginia Tech, said search engines are helpful in this instance: “Describing the image and adding the phrase ‘fact check’ to your search is often the fastest way to get more information and debunk misleading content.”
- Check what reputable sources including media outlets and journalists are reporting to see if their reports match the content you have found online. Look for official statements from government officials or content released on their verified social media accounts or websites.
For example, the North Carolina Department of Public Safety published fact checks on AI-generated content and other misinformation that swirled online amid Hurricane Helene.
Keep in mind some of these videos circulating on social media are simply recycling old footage.
CBS News
Social media policies on weather misinformation
House Democrats from states impacted by hurricanes Helene and Milton wrote a letter on Friday to seven technology companies, including Facebook, TikTok and X. The Congress members said there has been a “surge in misinformation, disinformation, conspiracy theories, and scams that are hindering recovery efforts and exploiting vulnerable individuals and families” in Helene’s aftermath.
When contacted by CBS News, Meta and TikTok said both companies are actively working to remove content that violates their policies.
A TikTok spokesperson said the company is directing people who search for Milton or Helene content on their platform to official videos from FEMA, and added the company works with 19 independent fact-checking organizations worldwide.
Meta shared that the company removes content that violates its Community Standards policies and works with 10 third-party fact-checking organizations in the U.S. to debunk false claims or limit the content’s reach if it’s been rated as false.
A representative for X did not return a request for comment.
Beyond CBS News Confirmed’s tips to spot weather misinformation online, the nonprofit think tank RAND has developed a 17-point checklist with more information on how to avoid spreading false claims or misleading media during natural disasters.
CBS News
Video of Phoenix police’s violent arrest of deaf Black man with cerebral palsy sparks outrage
Phoenix, Arizona — Police body camera video showing the Aug. 19 arrest by Phoenix police of Tyron McAlpin, a Black man who is deaf and has cerebral palsy, is sparking outrage from civil rights and disability activists.
The video shows that, immediately upon pulling up, officer Benjamin Harris jumped out of his vehicle and began punching McAlpin as officer Kyle Sue rushed over. McAlpin was punched at least 10 times and was also tased repeatedly. Sue can be heard on the video claiming McAlpin bit him and, in the police report from the incident, Harris claims McAlpin swung at him.
McAlpin now faces three felony charges for allegedly assaulting the officers and resisting arrest.
McAlpin’s civil attorney, Jesse Showalter, said the video of his client’s arrest is “really unconscionable.”
“Tyron is just trying to avoid getting hurt by an aggressive, out-of-control police officer,” Showalter said. “He can’t hear any of the commands he’s being given and the assault never lets up and the officers never do anything to de-escalate the situation.”
Police had been called to a nearby convenience store for a complaint about a White man who was loitering. That man claimed he had been assaulted and that his cell phone had been stolen. When police arrived, he pointed to McAlpin as the culprit, but McAlpin is not facing charges related to that man’s claims.
Showalter said McAlpin, “hadn’t done anything wrong, so all the force that they used is excessive, unnecessary and unreasonable.”
Andre Miller, Vice President of the Arizona State Conference NAACP, condemned McAlpin’s arrest, saying in a statement, “This brutal assault was due to the false claims of a white citizen, reminiscent of many falsehoods like Emmit Till that have claimed the lives of black citizens in America. Tyron was not a suspect in an actual crime, he had not done anything wrong, and he also has communication challenges, his assault happened seconds after the police vehicle was put in park. No true communication in this encounter was present.”
McAlpin spent 24 days in jail before making bond. He’s pleaded not guilty. The officers didn’t learn he was deaf until after the arrest and, as of Tuesday, remain on the job.
The Arizona Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing said in a statement it was “disheartened by this incident. We provided POST training for officers to communicate with Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and DeafBlind Arizonans, yet these modules are not currently being used. Cultural and language knowledge and awareness is vital for the safety of all.”
The Phoenix Police Department declined a CBS News request for an interview, but said in a statement it is investigating the officers’ actions.
Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell, the county’s top prosecutor, has also promised to review the case.
“Because of the attention on this case, I will personally review the entire file, as well as the totality of the video. I may reach a different conclusion, or I may not, but I believe this case merits additional scrutiny,” Mitchell said in a statement.
Phoenix Councilman Kevin Robinson said Tuesday in a statement, “While I cannot comment on the specific details of the incident at this time, I look forward to a thorough investigation that will be conducted in a timely manner.”
The incident came just two months after a damning Department of Justice report found Phoenix police engaged in a pattern of discrimination and excessive force. The Justice Department is aware of the McAlpin arrest.
ACLU Arizona Policy Director Darrell Hill said the video showed “another devastating example of Phoenix Police Department’s racial bias and use of excessive force against people who do not pose a threat to them, including those with disabilities.”
“Extreme and disproportionate reactions like this are well documented in the Department of Justice’s investigation and report. Clearly, the report’s findings are not being taken seriously, critical changes are not being implemented by police or city leaders, and federal oversight is gravely needed.”
Showalter noted that everything seen in the video “post-dates the DOJ report. It just runs counter to everything the city of Phoenix claims that it’s doing.”
Climate change-induced extreme weather will push millions to move, study finds
Bogus videos from the hurricanes are going viral. Here’s how to spot old and fabricated footage online.
Video of Phoenix police’s violent arrest of deaf Black man with cerebral palsy sparks outrage
Climate change-induced extreme weather will push millions to move, study finds
Bogus videos from the hurricanes are going viral. Here’s how to spot old and fabricated footage online.