The big holiday season treat for Tucker Carlson’s Fox Nation subscribers was the fear-mongering, transphobic commentary from Chaya Raichik, creator of Libs Of TikTok. It called the LGBTQ community a “cult” and furthered its bogus grooming claims about transgender people.
Raichik’s comments came near the end of her hour-long interview about Carlson’s daytime show on the Fox News streaming platform. It followed a discussion of “Intel,” which Laytik claimed to have collected about the types of gender-affirming care provided to transgender children at the Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC. of threats following misleading information shared by Libs of TikTok and other right-wing outlets.
Children’s National debunked the phone call quickly and easily, noting that the two people Raichik initially spoke to weren’t actually “giving care to our patients.” Additionally, a hospital spokesperson said, “We have never performed a gender-confirming hysterectomy on anyone under the age of 18.”
Nonetheless, the phone received a lot of coverage in conservative media circles, and Carlson was still glued to the phone during a new interview with Laichk. ” Carlsson said of the phone operator Laytik recorded. What is going on here, any theories? ”
In response, Raichik said, “The LGBTQ community has become a cult, it’s very attractive, and unlike anything you’ve seen before, it draws people in strongly. And they brainwash people into joining.” , convinces them of all these things, but it’s really, really hard to get out of there.
What followed was a discussion of gender-affirming care. Laichk and Carlson reframed this false belief that the hospital was providing her teens and children with procedures such as hysterectomies as a form of sterilization. This claim runs counter to the established guidelines of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, which advise against sex-confirming surgery in children and adolescents. Surgery is somewhat rare, even among adult transgender patients, and almost unheard of for children and adolescents. Medical guidelines prioritize supportive care for younger children and work with mental health professionals. is recommended. Adolescents also have the option of considering using a puberty blocker under the guidance of a health care professional.
Laichk also argues that parents of transgender or non-binary children are “misinformed” by doctors and psychologists about gender identity issues and care, and that LGBTQ youth are at higher risk of suicide. questioned.
Additionally, Laichk leaned into the grooming panic that conservatives have used to smear LGBTQ people. said: And there are a lot of parents who obviously encourage their kids to do this. ”
Carlson then threw Laichk a softball and asked if there was “a spiritual component to this”. Raichik initially objected, but Carlson happily jumped in, saying he did, adding that it made no sense to him. Raichik agreed, he said flatly. they are bad people They are just evil people who want to take care of their children. We are hiring. ”