Former President Donald Trump blasted Republican Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Saturday over his veto of a bill banning child sex changes.
The legislation, House Bill 68, would have also banned biological male students from playing on sports teams meant for girls.
DeWine told reporters on Friday that the ban would do “more harm than good.”
“These are truly complex issues, and reasonable people draw vastly different conclusions,” DeWine said during a press conference on Friday. “This bill would impact a very small number of Ohio’s children, but for those children who face gender dysphoria, and for their families, the consequences of this could not be more profound.”
DeWine claimed that parents of “transgender” children told him that their kids would have committed suicide without sex change procedures.
“Ultimately, I believe this is about protecting human life,” DeWine said. “Many parents have told me that their child would not have survived — would be dead today — if they had not received the treatment they received from one of Ohio’s children’s hospitals.”
“I’ve also been told by those who are now grown adults that, but for this care, they would have taken their lives when they were teenagers,” DeWine continued.
In a post to Truth Social, Trump blasted the decision and said that DeWine had “fallen to the radical left.”
“DeWine has fallen to the Radical Left,” Trump wrote. “No wonder he gets loudly booed in Ohio every time I introduce him at Rallies, but I won’t be introducing him any more.”
Trump had previously endorsed DeWine during his 2022 reelection bid.
Trump continued, “I’m finished with this ‘stiff.’ What was he thinking. The bill would have stopped child mutilation, and prevented men from playing in women’s sports. Legislature will hopefully overturn. Do it FAST!!!”
Republican lawmakers had passed the bill with overwhelming support.
The Ohio GOP also holds supermajorities in both chambers and will have the opportunity to override the governor’s veto.