One of America's most prominent trans women isn't happy with Donald Trump. In a Broadly interview published on Tuesday, former Olympic gold medalist and reality TV figure Caitlyn Jenner criticized Trump's LGBTQ record, saying that the he "has been, for all LGBT issues, the worst president we have ever had."
Jenner had a message for the president, too. "I want him to know politically I am disappointed, obviously," she said. "I don’t want our community to go backwards." Jenner proposed that Trump "just leave us alone. That’s all we want. Then maybe later down the line, we can get somebody a little better."
The celebrity's most recent comments on Trump carry a decidedly different tone from her previous remarks. After all, in early 2016, Jenner, told E! Online, "I'm not a big fan [of Trump] because, I think, of his macho attitude. I think he would have a hard time with women when he doesn't even realize it." However, she added, "It doesn't mean he wouldn't be good for women's issues, I think he would be very good for women's issues."
In the 2016 presidential election, Jenner said that she voted for Trump — a decision she justified on-air later. In 2017, she told CNN's Don Lemon that she did not regret voting for Trump, "As far as LGBT issues, yes, he's made some mistakes. I don't support him in everything that he does. But we needed to shake the system up."
In October 2017, Jenner became the central subject of an excoriating Change.org petition that was titled, "Stop Dishonoring the LGBTQ Community By Honoring Caitlyn Jenner" — a call that received over 2,000 signatures. It came right after the transgender health services foundation, Los Angeles-based St. John’s Well Child and Family Center, announced that it was giving her an award at its Eleganza Ball.
The announcement elicited swift criticism from members of the LGBTQ community who viewed Jenner's comments as harmful to the transgender people of the United States. The creator of the petition, Ashlee Marie Preston, wrote that Jenner supported "an administration that has aggressively attacked transgender children, service members in the armed forces, and has reversed civil protections for transgender people which were implemented by President [Barack] Obama."
In response to the criticism leveled at her, Jenner released a statement in October saying, "I am with you, and I am here to help" and declined to accept the award. The petition also led to the St. John's Well Child and Family Center rescinding its award for Jenner. The center issued a statement, "We deeply regret that our actions have hurt and divided the transgender community. That was not our intention. Our mission has always been to uplift and move our community forward."
The center's statement went on, "However, we hear the concerns of local activists, and we take them very seriously. Therefore, Caitlyn will not be receiving an award at the Eleganza Ball or attending the event."
Criticism from the past two years seems to have taken a toll on the 68-year-old celebrity, according to the Broadly interview. "I’m a human, a person," Jenner told Broadly's Diana Tourjee. Jenner also mentioned her bumpy relationship with the Kardashian family, which became apparent after she came out as a transwoman in 2015.
It doesn't seem to be a fun place for Jenner whose political concerns seem compounded by her personal relations. "I got the trans community out there bashing on me," she said. "I got the Kardashians out there bashing on me. All I do is sit here in the house and try to stay out of trouble."
