When Kamala Harris was asked if she still supports taxpayer-funded transgender gender reassignment surgery, she dodged and bizarrely blamed Donald Trump.
Fox News host Bret Baier inquired with the candidate Wednesday night during his highly anticipated interview whether she supports the controversial policy, but Harris demurred.
“Every transgender inmate in the prison system would have access,” Harris says in a 2019 clip that the Trump campaign turned into an ad attacking the Democrat. Baier asked her if she still holds the same beliefs.
“So are you still in favor of using taxpayer dollars to help prisoners or detained illegal aliens transition to another gender?” Baier asked.
Harris responded without saying what she personally believes: “I will follow the law.”
She then launched an attack on Trump without clarifying her position.
Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris had a one-on-one interview with Fox News host Bret Baier on Wednesday. During the interview, she was pressed about her position on taxpayer-funded sex operations for migrants and prisoners
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“It’s a law that Donald Trump actually followed,” she promptly continued.
Harris then spoke about an article about Trump, assuming the audience and presenter knew the literature she was referring to.
“You are probably aware… It is a matter of public record that under the Donald Trump administration, these surgeries were available on a medical necessity basis to people in the federal prison system,” she alleged.
“And I honestly think that Trump campaign ad is a bit like throwing rocks if you live in a glass house,” the Democratic nominee continued.
Harris appears to believe the topic is politically dangerous for Trump.
Baier and Harris sat down for an interview that lasted about 28 minutes
Vice President and current Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris attends a rally in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, U.S., October 16, 2024. After the event, she interviewed Baier
Trump has never advocated sex operations for prisoners or immigrants, the Trump campaign said shortly after Harris claimed the procedures were available under the ex-president.
The article she was referring to seems like one New York Times article claiming that Trump-appointed Bureau of Prisons officials were in power when gender-affirming care options were allowed for prisoners.
“Transgender offenders may require individual counseling and emotional support,” these officials wrote in 2018 memo to Congress.
‘Medical care may include pharmaceutical interventions (e.g. cross-gender hormone therapy), hair removal and surgery (if individualized assessment indicates that surgical intervention is applicable)’
What Harris didn’t mention, though it is in the NYT piece, is that the first gender-affirming surgery for a prisoner didn’t happen until 2022, long after Trump had left the White House.
At times, Baier and Harris spoke over each other as they tried to make their points
However, it should be noted that the person who successfully received a taxpayer-funded vaginoplasty in 2022 had already been applying for one since 2016, according to the ACLU.
“Kamala Harris has strongly advocated for transgender prisoners to be able to undergo transition surgery, while President Trump has never done so,” said Brian Hughes, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign.
There are an estimated 1,200 transgender prisoners in the US federal court system, according to a court filing cited by the NYT claims.
According to the Bureau of Prisons, there are nearly 160,000 federal prisoners in total.