Former president Donald Trump said a lot of outlandish (and demonstrably untrue) things during his Tuesday night (Sept. 10) presidential debate against Vice President Kamala Harris, from claiming people were aborting babies after they’re born to saying immigrants were eating people’s pets in Springfield, Ohio.
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But one particular turn of phrase from Trump captured the internet’s attention. While attempting to paint his opponent as a radically left-wing candidate, the twice-impeached former president claimed that Vice President Harris “wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison.”
Trump’s comments removed the context from Vice President Harris’ original comments, which came from am American Civil Liberties Union questionnaire
during Harris’ 2019 primary bid for the Democratic nomination. When asked if she would “ensure that transgender and nonbinary people who rely on the state for medical care — including those in prison and immigration detention — will have access to comprehensive treatment associated with gender transition,” Harris wrote that she would. “Transition treatment is a medical necessity, and I will direct all federal agencies responsible for providing essential medical care to deliver transition treatment,” she said at the time.
People quickly took to X during and after the debate, turning Trump’s comment into a rapidly spreading meme. Using the phrase “transgender operations on illegal aliens,” X users posted photos of American Dad‘s Roger the Alien in drag, Pleekly from Lilo & Stitch, E.T. wearing a dress, Xenomorphs from the Alien franchise in heels and plenty of other examples of queer-coded extraterrestrials to mock the former president’s comments.
Even a few artists joined in, with Lil Nas X joking about having a “transgender illegal alien gf and springfield ohio dog eating bf.” RuPaul’s Drag Race star BenDeLaCreme shared her shock at the comment itself, simply writing, “TRANSGENDER PRISONER OPERATIONS WHAT?!?”
Check out some of the celebrity reactions to the viral moment below:
transgender illegal alien gf and springfield ohio dog eating bf
— ☆ ‧dreamboy··‧̩̥˟͙冬˟͙‧̩̥l (@LilNasX) September 11, 2024
TRANSGENDER PRISONER OPERATIONS WHAT?!?
— BenDeLaCreme (@bendelacreme) September 11, 2024
Wait a second… Does she want you to have to wait six months for an operation or does she want kids to have operations while they’re at school over the course of a day or two? I just wanna know which one we’re looking out for.
— BenDeLaCreme (@bendelacreme) September 11, 2024
on my way to prison for surgery pic.twitter.com/E3CaB9c0fs
— Lawrence Chaney (@ShadyLawrence) September 11, 2024
IM SO GLAD MY GIRL GOT THE RECOGNITION SHE DESERVED TONIGHT. THANKS FOR THE SHOUT OUT TR*MP pic.twitter.com/czJRIwzxRU
— DeJa “Muggiana Grande” Skye (@DeJaSkye) September 11, 2024
illegal transgender alien tea pic.twitter.com/qykYKK0mbM
— Plazzy Wazzy (@Plasma_NYC) September 11, 2024
trump: “they want transgender operations on illegal aliens”
the illegal alien: #Debate2024 pic.twitter.com/MNN0gQhVKu
— Onyx Unleashed – Presidenta de AASG (@onyxunleashed) September 11, 2024
illegal transgender alien pic.twitter.com/rEbfsWkSmT
— Kiki Ball-Change (@kikiballchange) September 11, 2024
