Donald Trump ad targets Kamala Harris over trans surgery for migrants, prisoners

In a fresh campaign attack, the Donald Trump campaign released an ad targeting Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris for her past support of government-funded transgender surgeries for prisoners and detained migrants.

The ad, titled “Nonsense”, slams Harris for backing taxpayer-funded gender transition procedures. The narrator in the ad starts with, “Kamala supports taxpayer-funded sex changes for prisoners. Even the liberal media was shocked Kamala supports taxpayer-funded sex changes for prisoners and illegal aliens.” The ad concludes with: “Kamala’s for they/them. President Trump is for you”.

The ad highlights Harris’s stance during her 2020 presidential campaign, where she expressed support for ensuring transgender individuals in prison or detention facilities receive necessary medical care, including surgeries.

Her position became public again after CNN resurfaced her response to a 2020 questionnaire from the American ivil Liberties Union (ACLU). In the questionnaire, Harris stated, “I support policies ensuring that federal prisoners and detainees are able to obtain medically necessary care for gender transition, including surgical care, while incarcerated or detained,” according to New York Post.

Harris emphasised the necessity of these treatments, asserting, “Transition treatment is a medical necessity, and I will direct all federal agencies responsible for providing essential medical care to deliver transition treatment”.

In a 2020 interview with the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) Action Fund, Harris reaffirmed her position, sharing her efforts as California’s attorney general to change the state’s prison system policies. “I worked behind the scenes so that every transgender inmate in the prison system would have access to the medical care that they desire and need,” she said during the interview, reported the New York Post.

The Trump campaign ad emphasises Harris’s previous comments, showcasing headlines from various media outlets discussing her stance. The ad also features a 2017 headline about Trump’s economic agenda — “Trump: Lower taxes, bigger paychecks for workers.”

During the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, Trump brought up the issue, accusing Harris of wanting “to do transgender operations on illegal aliens in prison”. This marks the latest in a series of attacks from Trump’s campaign, as the former president continues to criticise Harris over her past policy positions.

Trump, when asked about his own pronouns in an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham in July, responded, “I have no — I don’t want pronouns,” reported the New York Post. Harris has faced criticism over several far-left positions she held during her unsuccessful 2020 run for president, many of which she has since walked back.

These include a ban on plastic straws, a ban on fracking, and pushing for Medicare for all. She has also scaled back on other progressive ideas, such as a mandatory gun buyback programme and the decriminalisation of illegal border crossings. The Trump campaign stated that Trump has no intention of debating Harris again before the upcoming election.