Trump knew Moms for Liberty was the perfect crowd for his hate speech. So he let it fly.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump was in peak form at a Moms for Liberty event last week, where he sounded as racist, pompous and incomprehensible as ever. Is anyone surprised?

Trump spoke for over an hour in a “fireside chat” with Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice. Aside from the incoherent tangents he went on and the softball questions he was asked, the former president spent a lot of time criticizing transgender children and immigrants to an audience he knew would be receptive to it.

At some point, I wish Republicans who support this would acknowledge the harmful things Trump says and does. The least they could do would be to cede the moral high ground they try to claim and just admit they're fine with this kind of hate speech targeting children.

Trump tells outlandish lies about trans kids

Trans people were a bigger focus of the interview, with Trump being egged on by the moderator. Justice said there is an “explosion” of trans children existing in the United States.

They spent a lot of time talking about Imane Khelif, the Algerian boxer who won Olympic gold at this year’s Paris Summer Games. Not only is Khelif cisgender, but she’s taking legal action against people who have fed the speculation that she's trans.

Trump also said that children are receiving gender-affirming surgeries in school. Yes, seriously: “Think of it, your kid goes to school and comes home a few days later with an operation."

I can’t believe it has to be said: No one is performing gender-affirming surgery at school. To suggest that is ridiculous.

You're not imagining it. Republicans have been weird about women for years.

Of course, no one in the room pushed back on this. Moms for Liberty, after all, is the same group that has villainized LGBTQ+ people, including children, in school systems across the country.

Trump took time to disparage immigrant children

He also took a significant amount of time to talk about immigration, using the same hateful rhetoric he’s been known to use over the course of his political career.

“Our country is being poisoned,” Trump told the crowd. “And your schools and your children are suffering greatly because they’re going into the classrooms, they’re taking the seats and they don’t even speak English.”

Just a reminder: He’s talking about children who have no choice in whether they come to this country. It’s cruel and unnecessary, and I find it shameful that Republicans ignore his rants like this.

The MAGA candidate: She 'sarcastically' said Obama should be killed. Now she wants to control kids' education.

Of course, this is a group of people likely to agree with him. After all, they cheered when Trump said the United States has "the dumbest people in history running our country."

It's hard to be shocked by Trump anymore, but there has to be some line Republicans are willing to draw. Shouldn't children be off-limits?

Moms for Liberty is exactly the crowd for Trump's message

The fact that Trump is speaking at a Moms for Liberty event is significant. The group was founded in 2021 to oppose mask mandates and has quickly taken on other issues that challenge the "woke mind virus."

The event was also cosponsored by The Heritage Foundation, the group behind the ultraconservative Project 2025. Although the former president running for reelection says he has no ties to the group, he has used some of their ideas in his party platform, like dismantling the Department of Education.

In case that doesn't concern you enough, Trump also said to Moms for Liberty that school boards are "like dictatorships."

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This, of course, does not seem to bother the Moms for Liberty crowd. At the end of the conversation, Justice noted that the group traditionally only endorses in school board races but that she personally endorsed Trump for the presidency.

In the end, I'm just surprised anyone on the right can take Trump and these extremists seriously. Republicans should know better, but they seem content to let the face of their party spew hate. It means the rest of us must take him as a serious threat and keep him from returning to the White House.

Follow USA TODAY elections columnist Sara Peque?o on X, formerly Twitter: @sara__pequeno

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump lied about trans kids at Moms for Liberty event. It's abhorrent