Speaking at the Grand Old Party’s (GOP) second debate for its 2024 US presidential election, Indian-American multimillionaire biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy Republican Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said that ‘Transgenderism’ is a mental health issue.
Ramaswamy said, “Transgenderism is a mental health disorder. We have to acknowledge the truth of that for what it is. It is not compassionate to affirm a kid’s confusion. That is not compassion. That is cruelty.”
Seven prominent Republican Party figures are taking part in the GOP’s second debate to select their nominee for the 2024 US presidential election. The two-hour debate started at 9 pm EST on Wednesday (6:30 am IST on Thursday) and is being hosted at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.
Also Read: US Presidential Election 2024: Indian Americans divided over Vivek Ramaswamy, Nikki Haley
Ramaswamy further said that more than 50% of kids with gender dysphoria have considered suicide. “And yet politicians reject a law that would require schools to inform parents if their kids change their gender identity at school.”
Ramaswamy stressed that parents have a right to know about their kids and that shouldn’t be controversial. “Ban genital mutilation and puberty blockers before age 18. Treat gender dysphoria as a mental health disorder. Time to empower parents again.”
To illustrate his argument, Ramaswamy mentioned encountering two young women who later had regrets about their gender-affirming surgeries. However, it’s important to note that post-transition regret is infrequent. According to a comprehensive analysis of 27 studies involving nearly 8,000 teenagers and adults who underwent transgender surgeries, primarily in Europe, the United States, and Canada, an average of 1% expressed regret, AP reported.
Haley and Ramaswamy engaged in a split-screen exchange, with Haley once again criticizing the political novice for his lack of experience and what she claimed were perilous concepts.
The Republican National Committee (RNC) is organizing these debates, and the party will officially declare its nominees for both the President and Vice President during its national convention scheduled for July the following year. The 2024 US presidential election is set to occur on November 5.
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Taking the stage were a lineup of candidates that included Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, Senator Tim Scott from South Carolina, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie, and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.
Russia-Ukraine War
At the same time, Ramaswamy expressed criticism directed at Ukraine while responding to a query regarding the ongoing U.S. assistance to the nation.
“Just because Putin is an evil dictator does not mean Ukraine is good,” Ramaswamy said.
Vivek Ramaswamy further said, “China, not Russia, is the United States’ real enemy. He further argued that the hard US line toward Russia “is driving Russia further into China’s arms.”
Inflation
During the second debate of the 2024 campaign, Republican presidential contenders found common ground by attributing the deficit spending and the looming risk of a government shutdown to Donald Trump and the Democrats. This marked an unusual instance of consensus among the candidates.
“The people in Washington are shutting down the American Dream with their reckless behaviour. They borrowed. They printed. They spent. And now you’re paying more for everything,” said Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is polling in second place but 42 points behind Trump.
“Donald Trump is missing in action. He should be on this stage tonight. He owes it to you to defend his record where they added $7.8 trillion to the debt that set the stage for the inflation that we have,” DeSantis said at the event in Simi Valley, California.
AP reported that although candidates in the debate portrayed the increase in asylum-seekers as a recent development during President Biden’s tenure, it’s essential to clarify that this trend actually began several years earlier. As of 2017, the United States had already become the world’s most preferred destination for asylum-seekers, a status it has retained since then, as confirmed by the UN refugee agency.
There’s no denying that migration has substantially risen under President Biden’s administration. Border apprehensions reached an all-time high of over 2.2 million along the Mexican border in the 2022 fiscal year, which spans from October to September. This number is more than twice the peak year of 852,000 during President Trump’s administration in 2019.
Additionally, during President Obama’s final full year in office, arrests exceeded 400,000.
Also Read: US Green Card backlog: 10.7 lakh Indians await processing with 134-year wait time
Talk on Abortion Rights
It wasn’t until over 100 minutes into the Wednesday night event that the first question about abortion was posed, CNN reported. Approximately five minutes later, the discussion had shifted to another topic. Interestingly, none of the participants on the stage appeared to be bothered by this.
Moderator Dana Perino initiated the topic by inquiring whether Governor DeSantis believed that certain Republicans had valid concerns that electoral consequences arising from abortion bans, or the possibility of their enactment, could hinder the eventual GOP nominee.
Also Read: Abortion law in America’s like a rude joke on US democracy
As reported by CNN, DeSantis, who enacted a six-week abortion ban in April, downplayed these concerns, highlighting his victory in traditionally Democratic-leaning regions of Florida as he secured a second term in 2022. He also took a swipe at Trump for his criticism of the new abortion laws, which Trump referred to as “a terrible thing and a terrible mistake.”
Christie followed a similar line of argument, emphasizing his two terms as the governor of New Jersey, a state known for its Democratic leanings, to demonstrate that anti-abortion leaders could succeed even in environments where support for abortion rights is prevalent.
Over the past year, several states have implemented abortion bans, each with varying points in pregnancy when the bans take effect. Currently, thirteen states have enforced complete abortion bans at any stage of pregnancy. For instance, Georgia prohibits abortion once cardiac activity is detectable, typically around six weeks of gestation.
Earlier this year, South Carolina Republicans co-sponsored a bill that aimed to apply the state’s homicide laws to individuals undergoing abortions. In simpler terms, the bill, which was already referred to the state House Judiciary Committee, would have equated women seeking abortions with those convicted of murder, potentially subjecting them to the death penalty.
The second debate among Republican candidates for the 2024 election is underway at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California. Notably, former President Donald Trump is absent from the debate stage; instead, he is in Michigan, delivering a speech at a Drake Enterprises-owned auto parts manufacturing plant.
Donald ‘Absent’ from the event
Donald Trump’s campaign members have downplayed the significance of the Republican primary debates, suggesting that Trump considers himself above such events. Chris LaCivita, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, told CNN that the debate scheduled for Wednesday, September 27, is a “joke”.
Also Read: US Presidential Elections 2024: Donald Trump misses GOP debate, his adviser calls event ‘a joke’
Chris wrote on X, “Tonight’s GOP debate was as boring and inconsequential as the first debate, and nothing that was said will change the dynamics of the primary contest being dominated by President Trump. The RNC should immediately put an end to any further primary debates so we can train our fire on Crooked Joe Biden and quit wasting time and money that could be going to evicting Biden from the White House.”
(This story has been updated with additional information.)
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