Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) is calling to institutionalize transgender people in mental health facilities “to get them off the streets” in the wake of reports that the man accused of fatally shooting Charlie Kirk had a trans romantic partner.
“We have to do something about this,” Jackson told Newsmax host Rob Finnerty on Tuesday. “We have to treat these people. We have to get them off the streets, and we have to get them off the internet and 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.”
Fact-checking outlet PolitiFact notes that a majority of major U.S. medical associations and the World Health Organization do not classify being trans as a mental health disorder.
Still, the GOP has ramped up its attacks against trans people in President Donald Trump’s second term, either through executive order or writing anti-trans language into policies.
Prosecutors have said that the man accused of killing Kirk, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, was romantically involved with a roommate who was transitioning from male to female, sparking an increase in right-wing rhetoric against the trans community. The roommate is not charged in connection with Kirk’s death and has been cooperating with investigators.
Jackson, who is a former White House physician, stated that the people “responsible” for Kirk’s death are ”either transgender or associated with the transgender community” and thus have a mental illness.
“These are people that have gender dysphoria, which is a real psychiatric issue,” Jackson said, adding, “it’s the reason that we don’t allow them in the military.”
He went on to claim trans women have an “underlying level of aggression.”
Finnerty played a clip of President Donald Trump calling for “bringing back mental institutions” and then asked Jackson if this “could be on the table.” That was when Jackson made his comments about taking trans people “off the streets” and preventing them from communicating.