Hasan Piker claims trans people wouldn’t be safer under a Kamala Harris presidency

Hasan Piker has argued that trans rights in the US wouldn’t fare any better if Kamala Harris was president.

The leftist political commentator claimed during a Monday (30 September) livestream that the former vice president, who ran as the Democratic candidate during the 2024 presidential election, was no better at handling trans rights than current US president, Donald Trump.

While watching a clip from the Ezra Klein show, the streamer, known online as HasanAbi, criticised the controversial columnist for suggesting that trans people’s lives would be better under a Harris administration.

Piker accused Harris of making “concessions about transphobia” and “leaning into anti-trans narratives” during her political career, arguing it was wrong to say US trans people would be safer if she was elected.

“The reason why this is wrong is twofold: Number one, at that point, all you’ve done is, once again, concede to the right-wing framing on trans people presenting some outsized harm to the American population,” he said. “You’ve leaned into it, and in that process of leaning into it you have normalised it. You have legitimised the claims of your opponent.

“Number two: Your opponent in the aftermath of that recognition will just turn around and say, ‘See, these f**king pro-trans losers even recognise I’m right. Vote for me. I will deal with the trans people with the integrity necessary’.”

He went on to accuse Harris of “looking hypocritical” on trans rights, adding: “You can never defeat the Republicans on hate-mongering. You just can’t. Okay.”

Piker did not specify what ‘concessions’ he was referring to when discussing Harris’ policies on trans people.

During her election campaign, the 60-year-old Democrat’s vocal allyship towards the trans community was largely commended, though many in the community criticised her campaign for largely avoiding the subject.

In recent months, Harris has been further criticised for appearing to express “concerns” over trans athletes in sporting events, writing in her memoir, 107 Days, that she agrees with “concerns expressed by parents and players” over the inclusion of trans players.

“We have to take into account biological factors such as muscle mass and unfair student athletic advantage when we determine who plays on which teams, especially in contact sports,” she wrote.

Biden presidency was no better for trans people, Hasan Pike says

Piker further argued in the clip that liberal voters largely ignore that, under the Biden administration, Republicans were passing hundreds of anti-LGBTQ+ bills, including trans healthcare bans.

“Joe Biden was president when Republicans were aggressively hitting the anti-trans narratives and also successfully implementing anti-trans legislation at the state legislature level already, building the f**king framework for what came next.”

According to the anti-trans legislation tracker, US state legislatures proposed 1,643 transphobic bills while Biden was in power, with 182 passing into law. Comparitevly, since Trump’s inauguration in January, 998 anti-trans bills have been proposed, with 122 passing into law.

Unlike the Biden administration, federal executive orders proposed by Trump have also forced hospitals in blue states, including in California and Washington DC, to halt gender-affirming care programs for trans youth.

Under Trump, trans people have been successfully banned from the US military, a vital suicide hotline for LGBTQ+ youth has been cut completely, and potentially thousands of vital resources on government websites have been scrapped.

Right-wing groups with close ties to Trump are also using their newfound political leverage to actively petition classifying trans people as a domestic terrorist threat. Unlike under the Biden administration, the White House has responded to these calls suggesting that so-called “transgender violence” is “worth looking into.“