Don Jr. says he 'can't see anything wrong' with Mario Lopez's comments about parents letting children pick their gender
Donald Trump Jr. has come out in support of 'Extra' host Mario Lopez after he came under fire for his controversial comments about raising transgender children.
During an appearance on Candace Owens' podcast in June, Lopez suggested it was outright "dangerous" for parents to let children make decisions on transitioning at such a tender age.
However, the father-of-two apologized for his comments on Wednesday saying they were "ignorant and insensitive."
"I now have a deeper understanding of how hurtful they were," he said.
Meanwhile, many conservatives came out in support of Lopez saying he had nothing to apologize for, Daily Mail reports.
"I literally can't see anything wrong with what Mario Lopez said here that would cause the Outrage Mob try to destroy him," Donald Trump Jr. tweeted. "He was as reasonable and accepting as anyone could be but because he may have had doubts about letting a 3 Year Old make a permanent decision he's killed? (sic)."
Conservative pundit Ben Shapiro also agreed. "Mario Lopez said nothing wrong here. Nothing," he wrote on Twitter.
Matt Walsh, a talk show host for The Daily Wire, also chimed in. "I see leftists criticizing Mario Lopez for saying 3-year-olds can't choose their gender," he tweeted. "I haven't seen a single leftist actually explain why he's wrong. That's because they can't explain. Their position is delusional, insane, anti-scientific, superstitious, and morally deranged."
Steven Crowder, another prominent conservative talk show host, also expressed his support on Twitter.
"Radical leftists: Mario Lopez doesn't understand the multi-faceted concept of gender! ...but 3-yr-olds do???" he asked.
Lopez was subsequently absent from Wednesday's episode of 'Extra', where fellow hosts Tanika Ray and Renee Bargh took over and addressed the controversy.
In order to make amends, they invited GLAAD director Anthony Ramos and Dr. Johanna Olson Kennedy, who is an expert on trans youth development at Children's Hospital Los Angeles.
"I think the question about when do you know your gender, what age are you when you know your gender, is a very important one because we understand that people know their gender at the age of three or four years old. This is a big body of research that was undertaken in the 1970s," Olsen-Kennedy said.
While Ramos added, "I think it is important to realize that people can say: 'Yes, I support the community, I have gay friends. My cousin or my aunt is a lesbian.' I think it is wonderful. But at the end of the day, it is important to be educated on all aspects of our community."
It looks like Lopez is in hot water with the show's producers who later released a statement addressing the controversy.
"While we have enjoyed a long relationship with Mario Lopez, who we know to be a caring person, the opinions he expressed in this interview do not reflect those of Extra," they wrote. "We wholeheartedly embrace our friends from the LGBTQ community and believe they need support and love. For more support on these issues, you can go to GLAAD.org."
Lopez's controversial comments came after conservative pundit Owens asked him about a "new trend" where Hollywood celebrities were "saying their child is picking their gender."
During the conversation, Owens referred to Hollywood star Charlize Theron, who declared last month her son Jackson identifies as a girl.
"I am trying to understand it myself, and please don't lump me into that whole [group]," Lopez explained.
"I'm kind of blown away, too. Look, I'm never one to tell anyone how to parent their kids obviously and I think if you come from a place of love, you really can't go wrong but at the same time, my God, if you're three-years-old and you're saying you're feeling a certain way or you think you're a boy or a girl or whatever the case may be," he added.
Lopez also suggested the transgender community at large was simply choosing genders on a whim instead of actually recognizing themselves as people whose identity differed from the gender they were assigned at birth.
"I just think it's dangerous as a parent to make that determination then — 'Okay, well then you're going to be a boy or a girl,' whatever the case may be. It's sort of alarming and my gosh, I just think about the repercussions later on," Lopez said.
He said: "When you're a kid, you don't know anything about sexuality"..
Lopez urged that parents have to be "the adult" and wait until their child's "formative years" for them to determine their gender or decide on transitioning.
"I personally think it's just way too young to start making these… I know other parents who have certain parenting styles that I necessarily don't agree with, but I do know they're good people and they're coming from a good place," he said.
Unsurprisingly, the talk show host faced a major backlash from the LGBTQ community who slammed him for his controversial stance.
However, Lopez caved to the pressure by Wednesday and apologized for his comments, stressing he's always been an "ardent supporter" of LGBTQ rights.
"I have been and always will be an ardent supporter of the LGBTQ community, and I am going to use this opportunity to better educate myself," Mario told People in a statement. "Moving forward I will be more informed and thoughtful."