A conservative group has sent numerous anti-trans text messages to voters across Pennsylvania in a bid to undermine Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign. 

The conservative think tank organisation American Principles Project (APP) sent anti-trans text messages to voters asking them to watch a 30-second video, where a narrator falsely claims Biden endorsed medical procedures on trans youths. The message reads, “Hi, I’m a Democratic volunteer with APP PAC. Did you see Joe Biden endorsed sex change operations for children as young as eight? That’s way too extreme and frankly it’s really weird.”

Facebook censored another APP PAC ad. This is the second ad in as many months.

We'll have more info soon.

— American Principles 🇺🇸 (@approject) October 25, 2020

In the sent video clip, it shows footage from a conversation between Biden and Mieke Haeck, a mother of an eight year-old trans child. On October 15, they spoke in Philadelphia about the ongoing attacks against the community under the Trump administration. 

Haeck highlighted the longterm damage caused by the military ban against trans people, the weakening of non-discrimination legal protections as well as many other discriminatory actions taken by Trump’s administration. She questioned Biden on how he plans to protect LGBTQ+ people under US law, to which he responded, “I will flat out just change the law. Eliminate those executive orders, number one.”

However, the sent video clip only shows a small snippet of this conversation before hurling false accusations against Biden, titling him “a pawn of the extreme left”. Executive director of APP Terry Schilling told the Philadelphia Inquirer that the organisation stands behind these claims. 

When called out for the false claims by the Philadelphia Inquirer, Schilling stated it was “up to Joe Biden to come out and explicitly” take a position on the issue. He said, “That’s what happens in politics. We’re connecting the dots and making a claim.”

Haeck responded to APP’s claims by calling the video a “blatant lie”. She said, “It has nothing to do with medical intervention, medication or surgery. That’s not what we’re talking about. It’s about my daughter using she and her pronouns, growing her hair and being who she is in her heart.”

APP are allegedly targeting one million Democratic and independent voters in Pennsylvania with their false ad. Using more than 100 volunteers and their current service, they can send 10,000 texts per hour.

The conservative think tank have previously campaigned against marriage equality, abortion rights, and trans rights.