On Fox News, host Jesse Watters questioned Abdul El-Sayed about whether he supports transgender surgeries for children. Abdul El-Sayed immediately responded to the question by asking if Watters was circumcised. Comparing children transitioning to a hygiene practice was not on any political pundit’s bingo card. This bizarre comment has gone viral, with millions of views on X within the first hour of the interview.

Medical professionals consistently warn about the dangers of allowing a child to transition. According to the Heritage Foundation, “Administering estrogen to boys or testosterone to girls eventually results in permanent sterility—a consequence that children are in no way equipped to consent to or even fully grasp the implications of.” In addition,

In 2024, the Biden Administration buried a National Institutes of Health study just before its planned release. The study showed that gender-affirming care does not improve the mental health of children with gender dysphoria. “The leader of the long-running study said that the drugs did not improve mental health in children with gender distress.”

A Pew Research Center survey reported that 56% of U.S. adults favor banning health care professionals from providing transition-related care to minors. Additionally, a Yale Youth Poll showed that 62% of voters oppose gender transition treatments for teenagers aged 13 to 17.

The verbal sparing session between Watters and El-Sayed on national television could provide Abdul El-Sayed’s opponent, Mike Rogers, with a new line of attack just as the race heats up. In 2024, the “Kamala is for they/them, President Trump is for you” ad moved independents by 2.7 points.