Rep. Ronny Jackson – Photo: Maryam Rajavi via Flickr CC
U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) argued during a Newsmax interview that transgender people should be institutionalized, claiming they suffer from “psychiatric illnesses” that justify their exclusion from military service.
“It’s the reason that we don’t allow them in the military at this particular point, because they have psychiatric issues, and they’re not eligible to serve in the military, as anyone else who had any other psychiatric issue would be,” said Jackson, a former White House physician to Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, during his appearance with host Rob Finnerty on Finnerty.
Jackson’s comments followed the recent fatal shooting of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk. Authorities allege that the suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, had been romantically involved with a transgender roommate who is cooperating with investigators, according to The Hill.
Texts and chat room posts suggest Robinson was deeply immersed in online culture and became “radicalized” there. Prosecutors allege that Robinson — who is not transgender — bristled at Kirk’s anti-transgender rhetoric, calling it “hatred,” according to The New York Post.
Conservatives have been eager to link Kirk’s killing — and other recent shootings — to transgender people, even when no transgender person was the perpetrator, to push a narrative that trans people are inherently violent.
Online influencers and some media outlets amplified a now-debunked claim that bullet cartridges from the gun allegedly used to kill Kirk bore engravings promoting “transgender ideology.” U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), a self-described “proud transphobe,” even alleged the shooter was transgender before authorities had identified a suspect.
Several commenters have speculated that hormones used to treat gender dysphoria cause chemical imbalances that make transgender people violent. In reality, as Mother Jones has reported, the vast majority of mass shooters have been cisgender men with no history of gender dysphoria.
Jackson appeared to embrace that theory, telling Finnerty that transgender women “have an underlying level of aggressiveness.” He also accused left-leaning media of portraying transgender people as “victims” when society refuses to recognize their identity or make accommodations, and claimed they have been “taken advantage of” by political and media forces.
He also claimed transgender Americans face “legitimate psychiatric issues related to the stuff that they’ve been exposed to” and called for stronger mental health interventions, including institutionalization. He further suggested limiting their contact with the outside world.
“We have to treat these people,” Jackson said. “We have to get them off the streets, and we have to get them off the internet, and we can’t let them communicate with each other. I’m all about free speech, but this is a virus, this is a cancer that’s spreading across this country.”
President Donald Trump — who issued a series of executive orders targeting the transgender community and restricting access to health care — has vowed to crack down on “Leftists” and non-governmental organizations accused of encouraging violence against conservatives or funding left-leaning advocacy groups and organizations representing marginalized communities.
U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, criticized fellow lawmakers — specifically naming Jackson and Mace — for employing anti-transgender rhetoric and derogatory language. He called the suggestion of forcibly institutionalizing transgender people “abhorrent.”
“This demonization of the transgender community must end,” Takano said. “Speaker [Mike] Johnson [R-La.] and Republican leadership have a duty to rein in these extremist members and put a stop to this vile, hateful rhetoric.”
If you’ve been on social media this summer, those five words have been almost inescapable. Originally part of a British budget airline ad, featuring Jess Glynne singing a snippet of her hit "Hold My Hand," the soundbite has taken on a viral life of its own.
On TikTok alone, the sound has been used in over 2.1 million videos, scoring everything from bad flight experiences to cringe-worthy vacation blunders.
The Trump administration jumped into the Jet2 Holiday meme-a-palooza in its own way. On July 29, the official White House X account posted a video of Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees in restraints, set to the ad's soundtrack.
"I was always for IVF. Right from the beginning, as soon as we heard about it.… We’re doing this because we just think it’s great. And we need great children, beautiful children in our country, we actually need them," President Donald Trump said in an August 2024 NBC News interview as he mounted his reelection bid.
He pledged to support free in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments, a promise that came just months after the Alabama Supreme Court controversially ruled that frozen embryos created through IVF should be considered "children" under state law.
In March 2022, Justine Lindsay made history as the NFL’s first openly transgender cheerleader. Three seasons later, the Carolina Panthers TopCat is stepping away from the squad to pursue pageantry and community outreach.
In a statement to Outsports, Lindsay said she wanted to grow beyond the sidelines, striving to be “recognized not just as an NFL cheerleader, but as someone making a positive impact, especially during these uncertain times.”
The announcement marks a reversal, as some news outlets had previously reported she would return for the 2025–2026 season.
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