Matt Gaetz defends Trump’s lies and disinformation on transgender surgeries after the debate

Following the fiery presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz stood in the spin room at the Pennsylvania Convention Center to reiterate Trump’s disinformation. Gaetz backed Trump’s false assertions that children are receiving gender-affirming surgeries in schools, a claim repeatedly debunked by education authorities and officials.

When asked directly by The Advocate about Trump’s lie that children are getting surgeries in schools, Gaetz sidestepped the factual inaccuracies, instead pivoting to a defense of parental rights. He pointed to states like California and Washington, where he argued that parents risk losing their rights if they don’t support gender-affirming care for their children.

“In places like California and the state of Washington, if a parent doesn’t have the right gender-affirming approach to their own children, they’re at risk of losing parental rights,” Gaetz claimed.

California's Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill last year that would have made judges consider if a parent affirmed their child's gender identity in issues related to custody or visitation rights. In Washington, also last year, a law passed that protects youth seeking gender-affirming care from having that care taken away by estranged parents.

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Gaetz continued by saying, “We don’t want to see those policies all over the country. We actually think parents ought to make those decisions about their children,” avoiding a direct response to the fact that gender confirmation surgeries are not performed in schools.

Mini Timmaraju, president of Reproductive Freedom for All, who was also in the spin room, did not hold back in her criticism of Trump’s debate performance and the disinformation he spread.

“This is a man who has a ton of delusions, a ton of fantastical ideas. It’s like he’s a walking comment section of the most unhinged conspiracy theory blog or website,” Timmaraju said in response to Trump’s baseless claims. She expressed frustration that Harris had to “dignify and debate somebody on such ridiculous, outrageous bullshit lies is offensive.”

Timmaraju praised Harris for her composure during the debate, commending her ability to handle Trump’s claims while staying grounded in the facts. “She not only very calmly and coolly fact-checked him in real-time. Like, no, nobody is executing babies. Kids are not going to school and getting transgender surgeries. Nobody’s eating animals. Well, some animals, but not cats and dogs,” Timmaraju said.

The reproducitve rights advocate said Harris was able to not only debunk Trump’s falsehoods but also show compassion for marginalized communities, offering a vision for healing and progress.

“She handled it beautifully… She was able to thread the needle and show compassion for these communities and talk about how she’s the way forward,” Timmaraju said.