Republicans are once again embracing anti-trans rhetoric in a series of advertisements across the country, hoping to capitalize on voter fears about transgender people as the clock ticks down to the November election.

Over the weekend, former President Donald Trumps campaign Instagram account unveiled a new ad with the slogan Kamala is for They/Them, targeting Vice President Kamala Harris support of gender-affirming care for all people, including incarcerated people and immigrants.

Even the liberal media was shocked Kamala supports taxpayer-funded sex changes for prisoners and illegal aliens, the narrator in the ad warns.

The new ad hinges on a now-viral moment during the Sept. 10 presidential debate when Trump warned that Harris supports transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison. That perplexing word salad of a claim was Trumps own spin on Harris response to a 2019 ACLU candidate questionnaire .

Days before the debate, CNN published a story about the questionnaire, in which Harris wrote about slashing funding for the construction of new immigrant detention centers and decreasing ICEs budget. The story also notes Harris support of taxpayer funding of gender transition surgeries for detained immigrants and federal prisoners.

The ACLU survey asked if candidates supported gender-affirming surgery for trans people who rely on state insurance including those who are incarcerated or in immigrant detention.

Harris responded that it was important for all trans people to receive that care.

I support policies ensuring that federal prisoners and detainees are able to obtain medically necessary care for gender transition, including surgical care, while incarcerated or detained, she wrote at the time. Transition treatment is medically necessary, and I will direct all federal agencies responsible for providing essential medical care to deliver transition treatment.

The survey resurfaced during the week of the presidential debate and attracted a deluge of coverage from right-wing media. Trumps team leaped at the chance to use Harris response as an attack.

Trump has been highly critical of Harris and her running mate Tim Walzs support of LGBTQ+ rights, and has vowed to roll back Title IX protections for transgender students, criminalize doctors who provide care to trans youth, and make it much harder for trans adults on Medicare and Medicaid to receive gender-affirming care.

Over the last few weeks, Trump has also spent much of his time on the campaign trail repeating false claims that children are undergoing gender-affirming surgeries at school and without parental consent although there is no evidence of this happening anywhere.