Undercover video obtained by Breitbart News shows Mississippi Democrat Senate candidate Scott Colom struggling to string together a coherent position on the topic of child mutilation surgeries, saying he can’t remember the particulars of a letter he signed on the subject, doesn’t think the procedures should be legal, but also doesn’t believe in prosecuting doctors who perform them.
The two-and-a-half minute exchange shows Colom becoming increasingly agitated over the topic.
Colom, a local prosecutor, said he couldn’t remember details of a letter he signed in 2021 condemning efforts to criminalize “gender-affirming care for transgender people” by the far-left group Fair and Just Prosecution.
The group’s letter says laws banning gender mutilation are “blatantly unconstitutional attacks on some of the most vulnerable Americans [which] will deeply harm public safety.”
The letter is titled “JOINT STATEMENT FROM ELECTED PROSECUTORS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT LEADERS CONDEMNING THE CRIMINALIZATION OF TRANSGENDER PEOPLE AND GENDER-AFFIRMING HEALTHCARE”.
The signatories state:
“[W]e pledge to use our settled discretion and limited resources on enforcement of laws that will not erode the safety and well-being of our community. And we do not support the use of scarce criminal justice and law enforcement resources on criminalization of doctors who offer medically necessary, safe gender-affirming care to trans youth, parents who safeguard their child’s health and wellbeing by seeking out such treatments, or any individuals who use facilities aligned with their gender identity.”
Colom is one of more than 75 signatories, who also include individuals such as Shannon Taylor, the Democrat nominee in Virginia’s 1st Congressional District, Chesa Boudin, the former San Francisco prosecutor who was removed from office in a recall vote over his soft-on-crime policies, and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.
He says to the undercover journalist, “So, I’m not for gender-affirming surgery for children… a ban is not a criminal thing.”
When pressed again he says it’s not legal for the doctors to do it, “but I wouldn’t criminally prosecute somebody for it.”
Colom begins to get more agitated when asked what is life-saving about transgender mutilation surgeries.
“I didn’t write the letter… I don’t remember all parts of it because it was a long time ago,” says Colom.
The letter was publicly released in June 2021.
Colom then shouts, “Listen, I have never been for gender-affirming surgery for children. I’m personally pro-life… I don’t think it should be legal, but I don’t think it should be criminal. I don’t think you should prosecute a doctor in court and send them to jail for — ” Here the reporter breaks in, saying “mutilating children?” before Colom finishes his sentence with “– for healthcare procedures that the parent and child agree to.”
Becoming more agitated by the back-and-forth, Colom says, “What I’m saying is this: It’s fine that it’s civilly, you can’t do it. Doctors cannot do it. I don’t think this is a criminal situation. Maybe you want to prosecute a doctor for that surgery, that’s great. Run for DA, you can run on that, and good luck with that policy! I stand behind my position that it’s not a criminal issue because we can’t criminalize social issues!”
Colom is challenging Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in the November election. She blocked his nomination to a federal judge position during former President Joe Biden’s administration. According to Mississippi television station WJTV, Hyde-Smith cited concerns at the time about large contributions from organizations connected to George Soros allegedly donating to Colom’s campaigns beginning in 2015.
Follow Matt Mercer on X: @mattmercer.
