By JON MICHAEL RAASCH, US POLITICAL REPORTER

Published: | Updated:

When Kamala Harris was asked about whether she still supports taxpayer-funded transgender sex change surgeries she dodged and bizarrely blamed Donald Trump.

Fox News host Bret Baier inquired about whether she supports the controversial policy during his highly anticipated interview with the candidate Wednesday evening, but Harris demurred.

'Every transgender inmate in the prison system would have access,' Harris is seen saying in a 2019 clip that has been repurposed by the Trump campaign into an ad attacking the Democrat. Baier asked her if she still holds the same beliefs. 

'So are you still in support of using taxpayer dollars to help prison inmates or detained illegal aliens to transition to another gender?' Baier asked. 

Harris answered without saying what she personally believes: 'I will follow the law.' 

Then she launched into an attack against Trump without clarifying her stance. 

Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris sat for a one-on-one interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier Wednesday. During the interview she was pressed about her stance on taxpayer-funded sex surgeries for migrants and inmates

Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris sat for a one-on-one interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier Wednesday. During the interview she was pressed about her stance on taxpayer-funded sex surgeries for migrants and inmates

'It's a law that Donald Trump actually followed,' she promptly followed up.

Harris then spoke about an article on Trump, assuming the audience and the host knew the literature she was referencing. 

'You're probably familiar... It's a public report that under Donald Trump's administration these surgeries were available on a medical necessity basis, to people in the federal prison system,' she claimed.

'And I think, frankly, that ad from the Trump campaign is a little bit of like throwing stones when you're living in a glass house,' the Democratic nominee continued. 

Harris appears to believe that the topic is politically perilous for Trump. 

Baier and Harris sat down for an interview that was roughly 28 minutes long

Baier and Harris sat down for an interview that was roughly 28 minutes long 

Vice President and current Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris attends a rally in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA, 16 October 2024. After the event she interviewed with Baier

Vice President and current Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris attends a rally in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA, 16 October 2024. After the event she interviewed with Baier

Trump has never advocated for sex surgeries for inmates or immigrants, the Trump campaign said shortly after Harris claimed the procedures were available under the ex-president

Trump has never advocated for sex surgeries for inmates or immigrants, the Trump campaign said shortly after Harris claimed the procedures were available under the ex-president  


The article she was referencing seems to be a New York Times article claiming Trump-appointed officials in the Bureau of Prisons were in power when gender-affirming care options were allowed for inmates. 

'Transgender offenders may require individual counseling and emotional support,' these officials wrote in a 2018 memo to Congress.

'Medical care may include pharmaceutical interventions (eg, cross-gender hormone therapy), hair removal and surgery (if individualized assessment indicates surgical intervention is applicable).' 

However what was not mentioned by Harris, though it is included in the NYT piece, is that the first gender-affirming surgery for an inmate did not happen until 2022, well after Trump was out of the White House. 

At times Baier and Harris spoke over each other as they tried to get their points in

At times Baier and Harris spoke over each other as they tried to get their points in 

It should be noted, though, that the individual who successfully got a tax-payer funded vaginoplasty in 2022 had been requesting one since at least 2016, according to the ACLU. 

'Kamala Harris has forcefully advocated for transgender inmates to be able to get transition surgeries, President Trump never has,' Trump campaign senior adviser Brian Hughes said. 

There are an estimated 1,200 transgender inmates in the US federal court system, a court filing cited by the NYT claims. 

There are close to 160,000 federal inmates total, according to the Bureau of Prisons.  

Donald TrumpKamala HarrisPoliticsFox News

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