6 highlights from the fourth Republican presidential debate
DeSantis, Haley spar over gender transitions
The debate began with DeSantis declaring, "I am sick of Republicans who are not willing to stand up and fight back against what the left is doing to this country."
Insisting that "you've got to be willing to stand strong and you've got to be willing to beat these people," DeSantis described himself as "the only one running for president that has beaten these people on issue after issue."
The governor attempted to contrast himself with Haley, a former South Carolina governor, whom he maintained "caves any time the left comes after her, any time the media comes after her."
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Recalling how he signed "a bill in Florida to stop the [genital] mutilation of minors," DeSantis asserted Haley "opposes that bill." The bill DeSantis is referring to bans doctors from prescribing puberty-blocking drugs and cross-sex hormones to minors struggling with gender dysphoria and conducting gender transition surgeries on those younger than 18.
"She thinks it's fine and the law shouldn't get involved with it," he added. "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 disagreed with DeSantis' analysis and painted herself as a conservative on LGBT issues by telling the audience, "I actually said his 'Don't Say Gay' bill didn't go far enough because it only [banned talking about] gender until the third grade and I said it shouldn't be done at all, that that's for parents to talk about."
The bill Haley was referring to, derided by critics as the "Don't Say Gay Bill," prohibits school officials from talking about sexual orientation and gender identity with students in kindergarten through third grade.
"You didn't respond to the criticism," DeSantis replied. "It wasn't about the Parents' Rights in Education bill; it was about prohibiting sex change operations on minors."
After describing gender transition procedures on minors as "irreversible," DeSantis reiterated that Haley "said the law shouldn't get involved in" regulating those procedures. He asked a rhetorical question: "If you're somebody that's going to be the 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?"
Haley pushed 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."
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
