Tucker Carlson agrees that best practice health care for trans youth allows people to “basically molest” children

Glenn Ellmers: “Limited government doesn't mean that we allow people to, you know, basically molest and abuse children."

Special Programs LGBTQ

Written by Alex Paterson

Research contributions from Nikki McCann Ramirez

Published

On the April 21 edition of Fox Nation’s Tucker Carlson Today, Hillsdale College visiting research scholar Glenn Ellmers falsely suggested that best practice medical care for trans youth allows people to “basically molest and abuse children.” Host Tucker Carlson agreed with Ellmers' falsehood and lied that trans youth are undergoing “genital mutilation and chemical castration.”

In reality, gender-affirming medical care for trans youth is accepted as a safe, effective, and lifesaving treatment that is widely supported by medical professionals and yields mental health benefits. Nevertheless, state legislatures across the country are introducing anti-trans bills that seek to ban health care for trans youth. 

Ellmers’ and Carlson’s false claims came during a discussion of Arkansas Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s veto of the state’s bill criminalizing best practice health care for trans youth. (The legislature overturned his veto and passed the law.) In the wake of his veto, Hutchinson appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight on April 6, and Carlson has since attacked him several times.

Carlson regularly spreads dangerous rhetoric -- including spreading medical misinformation about health care for trans youth -- in line with Fox News’ other coverage that dehumanizes the trans community, including claims that affirming trans youth will sexualize kids or lead to children being able to “consent for sexual activity.”

From the April 21, 2021, edition of Fox Nation's Tucker Carlson Today

TUCKER CARLSON (HOST): We interviewed Asa Hutchinson, who I’ve known for, gosh, more than -- probably 25 years, 30 years. I mean, I worked at a newspaper in Arkansas. He was a brother. I always think of him as conservative. He’s like an evangelical, self-described. Always liked him. We had him on the show a couple of days ago to talk about his veto of this bill, which would have protected children -- not adults -- children in the state of Arkansas from genital mutilation and chemical castration. And he vetoed it.

…

(CLIP BEGINS)

CARLSON: Why do you think it's important for conservatives to make certain that children can block their puberty? Be chemically castrated? Why is that a conservative value, if you would tell us?

GOV. ASA HUTCHINSON (R-AR): Well, first of all, you have parents involved in very difficult decisions. You have physicians that are involved in these decisions, and I go back to William Buckley. I go back to Ronald Reagan. The principles of our party, which believes in a limited role of government.

(CLIP ENDS)

...

GLENN ELLMERS (VISITING RESEARCH SCHOLAR, HILLSDALE COLLEGE): By the way, that whole argument of limited government has its place. But when Buckley and Reagan made those arguments 40 years ago, they were operating on the assumption that they weren't talking to morons who understood that limited government doesn't mean that we allow people to, you know, basically molest --

CARLSON: Yeah.

ELLMERS: And abuse children. That's not what limited government means.