This week, an old clip of Nikki Haley that appeared to suggest her approval of so-called “gender-affirming care” for children — more accurately described as genital mutilation — went viral on social media.
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“What care should be on the table when a 12-year-old child in this country assigned female at birth says, ‘Actually, I feel more comfortable living as a boy.’ What should the law allow the response to be?” Tony Dokoupil of “CBS Mornings” had asked her.
“I think the law should stay out of it, and parents should handle it,” Haley replied. “This is a job for the parents to handle.”
Naturally, during the GOP primary debate Wednesday night, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis contrasted her position on this issue with his record and did so quite effectively.
“I did a bill in Florida to stop the gender mutilation of minors. It’s child abuse and it’s wrong,” DeSantis said during his opening remarks Wednesday. “If you’re not willing to stand up for the kids, if you’re not willing to stand up and say that it is wrong to mutilate these kids, then you’re not going to fight for the people back home.”
“She said the law shouldn’t get involved in that, and I just ask you, if you’re somebody who’s going to be president of the United States, and you can’t stand up against child abuse, how are you going to be able to stand up for anything?”
“I never said that,” Haley shot back. “I said that if you have to be 18 to get a tattoo; you should have to be 18 to have anything done to change your gender.”
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“You said the law should stay out of it,” DeSantis responded.
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Haley did herself no favors by referencing Florida’s HB 1557, the Parental Rights in Education Bill, and calling it what the left calls it: the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
“I actually said his ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill didn’t go far enough,” she insisted.
Regardless of what Haley says about the issue now, many have seen the clip of her saying the law should stay out of it and have called it disqualifying.
“Wrong answer,” declared Seth Dillon of the Babylon Bee. “Parents do not have a right to abuse their children. The law should not ‘stay out of it.’“
Reposting the Haley clip on X/Twitter, Dana Loesch observed that “there really isn’t anything she could add to justify what she just said. You wouldn’t help an anorexic or bulimic child harm themselves with body dysmorphia so why would hormone or surgical abuse be different?”
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) responded to the clip by saying, “The law shouldn’t ‘stay out’ of child abuse.”
Chloe Cole, who was duped as a child into transitioning and has now detransitioned, cheered DeSantis’s position on the issue and posted a clip of him referencing her in the debate.
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Yes!! Haley should not pretend to be some ultra hardcore libertarian. It’s very simple, she will not stand up to child abuse!!!
This problem isn’t solved until we have a president and congress that is willing to stand up to this mutilation. pic.twitter.com/0hUWDCo4Fi
— Chloe Cole ⭐️ (@ChoooCole) December 7, 2023
“Haley should not pretend to be some ultra hardcore libertarian,” Cole tweeted. “It’s very simple, she will not stand up to child abuse!!! This problem isn’t solved until we have a president and congress that is willing to stand up to this mutilation.”
There were many more calling out Haley, but you get the point.
Here’s the deal: This is something that many of us couldn’t even have imagined being a major issue ten years ago, but now, it’s become so mainstream in popular culture and education that it will take strong-willed leaders to nip it in the bud. Ron DeSantis has proven himself to be the leader that will stand up to protect our kids.