Donald Trump on Monday told the Washington Post that he would reverse the Obama administration’s new guidelines for schools on how to accommodate transgender students, but the presumptive Republican presidential nominee also expressed willingness to protect transgender individuals.
“It is a very, very small portion of the population, but as I said, you have to protect everybody, including small portions of the population,” Trump told the Post.
When first asked about the controversial North Carolina law that keeps transgender people from using the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity, Trump said that the law was unnecessary and suggested that people “use the bathroom that they feel is appropriate.” But when pressed on the issue later that day, Trump said that it should be up to states.
Trump walked this same line in his Monday interview with the Washington Post, even though he said that the letter from the Justice and Education departments amounted to executive overreach.
He told the Post that “you’ve got to protect all people, even though it’s a tiny percentage of 1 percent.”
“I think from that standpoint, [states] should come up with a policy that’s going to work for everybody and protect people,” Trump said.
The Republican presidential candidate does not “view it as civil rights or not civil rights,” when asked about President Obama’s view that protecting transgender people from discrimination is a civil rights issue.
“I think it’s something where we have to help people — and hopefully the states will make the right decisions,” Trump said.
Trump’s tone while discussing transgender access to public facilities is markedly different from that of other Republicans.
The Friday letter from the Obama administration prompted swift outrage from conservatives who charged that the President had overstepped his authority. Governors and attorneys general balked at the guidelines, with some hinting at legal action.
