Michael Knowles—right-wing political commentator associated with the Daily Wire—said “for the good of society… transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely” at the Conservative Political Action Conference Saturday afternoon.
The transphobic comment has prompted reactions of horror, with Tech expert and author Alejandra Caraballo writing that Knowles was “openly calling for genocide against trans people.” John Knefel of Media Matters also labelled the comment “genocidal.”
Similarly, Christopher Mathias called it an “eliminationist anti-trans tirade.” Adam Vary of Variety agreed, responding to Mathias’ Tweet: “Pay attention. This is genocidal.”
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Saturday does not mark the first time Knowles has used this anti-transgender rhetoric. Just last week, Knowles responded to backlash he faced for a similar transphobic comment calling for a ban on “transgenderism.”
“I don’t know how you could have a genocide of transgender people because genocide refers to genes, it refers to genetics, it refers to biology,” Knowles said on The Michael Knowles Show. “And the whole point of transgenderism is that it has nothing to do with biology.”
“Nobody’s calling to exterminate anybody because the other problem with that statement is that transgender people is not a real ontological category,” he added. “It’s not a legitimate category of being.”
Editor’s Note: the headline has been changed to more literally reflect the words Knowles used.
