Trump Officials Assured Skeptical Senator Dr. Oz’s Views on Transgenderism Have Changed

The Trump administration has assured a conservative senator who raised concerns about Dr. Mehmet Oz’s positions on transgenderism that the nominee to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have changed, The Daily Signal has learned.

Hawley, R-Mo., wrote Oz a series of questions on March 18 about Oz’s past statements expressing support of transgender medical interventions for minors and ambivalence on abortion.

On “The Dr. Oz Show” in 2015, Oz featured transgender-identifying teen activist Jazz Jennings. During his interview with Jennings, Oz told Jennings’ mother, “I love the support you’ve given your daughter. It’s wonderful. And you can see the beautiful young woman she’s becoming because of it.”

Oz criticized pro-life policies as recently as 2019. When Alabama enacted a total abortion ban into law, he asked, “Is this really the way they want to spend their time?”

Hawley, a pro-life Christian, has discussed his concerns about Oz with the Trump administration, but he has not received responses to his questions from the doctor-turned-TV personality, the senator told The Daily Signal.

Hawley said he’s been in contact with “sherpas” and “administrative people” in the Trump administration who have assured him Oz’s views on transgender procedures for minors have changed.

“I’ve heard from a lot of people around the administration, but we really just need to hear from [Oz],” he said.

Oz is fully onboard with Trump’s agenda, the White House says.

“Every member of the Trump administration is working from the same playbook, President Trump’s playbook, to restore commonsense policies and put an end to left-wing ideological nonsense afflicting our government,” White House spokesman Kush Desai told The Daily Signal. “We look forward to the Senate’s swift confirmation of Dr. Oz so he can join the rest of our all-star team at HHS working to Make America Healthy Again by restoring common sense, transparency, and confidence in our healthcare apparatus.”

As a result of not being on the Senate Finance Committee, Hawley won’t have the opportunity to ask Oz his questions face to face. Oz advanced out of the Senate Finance Committee by a 14-13 vote.

“I’m not on the committee, so I don’t have a chance to ask him questions directly,” Hawley told The Daily Signal. “So, I sent a couple of pages of questions, not very many, but just enough to really get at his views on the trans issue, transitioning for kids, minors, and then abortion, the life issues.

“I sent those questions over to him, and certainly the administration knows about that. We talked about it with them, and I’m hoping that we’ll get answers back. I don’t know why we wouldn’t, so we haven’t gotten them yet, though, which is a little strange.”

Trump’s record on transgender issues so far has been “terrific,” Hawley said, adding that Oz’s views on the subject seem “out of step” with those of the president.

“I hope the response from [Oz] is, ‘Yeah, I’ve changed my views, and I agree with president 100%, and I don’t favor trans surgeries for minors or trans treatments for minors,” Hawley said.

An Oz spokesperson told The Daily Wire on Tuesday evening that he is opposed to all transgender procedures on minors.

“Dr. Oz fully understands the harms caused to minors by such procedures and is committed to implementing President Donald J. Trump’s agenda of protecting children so they can grow to live out their God-given potential,” an Oz spokesman told The Daily Wire on Tuesday evening.

Bradley Devlin contributed to this report.

The post Trump Officials Assured Skeptical Senator Dr. Oz’s Views on Transgenderism Have Changed appeared first on The Daily Signal.