Kamala Harris points out that Trump supported gender-affirming care for inmates in Fox interview

During her highly anticipated interview with Fox News, Kamala Harris refused to let host Bret Baier rattle her during a question on gender-affirming care, where she pointed out that the Trump administration supported the same policy that she does.

Harris, in fact, remained cool, calm, and collected throughout her entire appearance on Fox News, during which Baier constantly interrupted her as she tried to answer his questions.

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About halfway through the conversation, Baier played an attack ad from the Trump campaign that declares Harris supports “taxpayer funded sex changes for prisoners.” The ad – which The New Republic called “hateful” and “despicable”– ends by declaring that Harris “is for they/them” while Donald Trump “is for you.”

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Baier asked Harris if she is “still in support of using taxpayer dollars to help prison inmates or detained illegal aliens transition to another gender.”

Harris responded, “I will follow the law, and it’s a law that Donald Trump actually followed… Under Donald Trump’s administration these surgeries were available to – on a medical necessity basis – to people in the federal prison system, and I think frankly that ad from the Trump campaign is a little bit of throwing stones when you’re living in a glass house.”

Federal Prison System budget documents from 2018 – when Trump was president – indeed indicate that transgender offenders were entitled to medical care that “may include pharmaceutical interventions (e.g., cross-gender hormone therapy), hair removal and surgery (if individualized assessment indicates surgical intervention is applicable).”

A report from The New York Times explained that the guidelines originated in the Obama administration and that Trump’s team merely added the word “necessary” to the policy, which the report emphasized, “created a higher but not insurmountable barrier to federally funded surgeries.”

Trump, of course, significantly rolled back trans rights during his presidency, but medical care for trans inmates was not a place in which he focused.

Baier responded that Trump aides have argued the former president “never advocated” for the prison policy and that no gender-affirming surgeries actually happened during his presidency. Harris said he has to take responsibility for the policies of his administration and reaffirmed that as president, she will follow the law – which protects the rights of trans inmates to receive medically necessary health care.

The Trump ad frames Harris’ position as if it’s a very unusual and extreme stance. But her policy was not only shared by the Trump administration, it is actually required by the Constitution. The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution restricts “cruel and unusual punishment” from being applied to prisoners or detainees in any context — this extends to healthcare as well. Because of this amendment, it’s unlawful to deny essential healthcare to anyone detained by the U.S. government.

Gender-affirming care is medically necessary, according to leading medical associations, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Offices for Civil Rights details how denial of coverage for gender-affirming care violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. Earlier this year, federal courts ruled that such care is medically necessary and needs to be included in state-funded health insurance plans.

In the Fox News interview, Harris also blasted the Trump campaign for spending $20 million on anti-trans ads, saying Trump was “trying to create a sense of fear in the voters because he actually has no plan in this election that is about focusing on the needs of the American people.”

“Twenty million dollars on that ad, on an issue that, as it relates to the biggest issues that affect the American people, is really quite remote.”

Harris was likely referring to the fact that gender-affirming procedures, particularly surgeries, are not commonly conducted on federal inmates or detainees. According to a statement from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to FactCheck.org, only two federal prisoners — out of over 2,000 transgender federal prisoners — have received any form of gender-affirming surgery.

Recent polling also indicates that most voters aren’t worried about gender-affirming care and are less likely to support transphobic political candidates.

While a 2023 Gallup poll showed that only 26% of Americans think trans athletes should be allowed to play on sports teams that fit their gender identity, polls in five battleground states conducted by The New York Times and Siena College show that majorities of Americans think society should accept transgender people’s gender identities.

Recent HRC polling shows that only 5% of voters say they’re concerned about gender-affirming care — comparatively, 52% are more concerned about economic inflation raising the cost of living. Additionally, 61% said they won’t support candidates who support banning gender-affirming care — including 41% of Republicans.

This is why Harris emphasized in her response that what is more significant to her campaign are her plans to strengthen small businesses, expand affordable housing, support parents, and strengthen the economy.

Looks like that NY Times article came out just in time for Kamala Harris.

Bret Baier: Do you still support using taxpayer dollars for illegal aliens or prison inmates to transgender?

Harris: That's a law that Donald Trump actually followed. pic.twitter.com/qg7p7vCkqB

— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) October 16, 2024

Nevertheless, Republicans have spent over $65 million on transphobic political ads since August in a bid to win suburban female voters over fears of trans women in sports and taxpayer-funded transitional medical care for prisoners, an analysis by The New York Times revealed.

Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), said transphobic ads failed to secure Republican victories in 2022 and 2023. She predicts they’ll fail again this year.

“It shows that Republicans are desperate right now,” Robinson said. “Instead of articulating how they’re going to make the economy better or our schools safer, they’re focused on sowing fear and chaos.”

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