Iconic reality TV star and RuPaul's Drag Race guest judge Ts Madison weighed in on President Donald Trump's anti-transgender executive order, and it was a masterclass in unbothered.
Ts isn't just a guest judge on Drag Race and Drag Race All Stars, either — back in March on Instagram, she marked four years since she became the "first Black transgender woman to executive produce" her own show on national television, a reality show called The Ts Madison Experience.
President Trump's non-consecutive second term in office began on January 20, and one of his first orders of business was to sign a highly controversial Executive Order (EO) targeting transgender people, which asserted:
"It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female.
"These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality."
On Thursday, January 23, ABC News covered the scope of Trump's EO, explaining: "Medical and legal experts say the executive order rejects the reality of sexual and gender diversity, and are concerned about the implications it will have for intersex, nonbinary and transgender Americans."
Kellan Baker, executive director of the Whitman-Walker Institute, described the Order as "shockingly out of step with what we know from science," and Lambda Legal's Jenny Pizer lamented the administrative burders it could create for transgender Americans.
TMZ ran into Ts Madison and asked about the Trump administration's new Executive Order, and Ts was resolute.
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'At The Beginning, Middle, And End Of The Day'
On Thursday, TMZ shared an article with video after spotting Ts somewhere in Manhattan.
Ts herself shared the TMZ video on her own Instagram timeline:
In her caption, Ts mentioned negative comments on TMZ's post, but ultimately emphasized that all Americans' freedoms are at risk when one group's is under attack.
She wrote: "Injustices, removal of Freedoms, and hateful targets towards ANY group and especially a Person of color is a direct attack on all groups!"
As for the video, it began with someone off-camera asking Ts how she feels about "Donald Trump saying, 'listen, there's only two genders.'"
Ts comes in hot, and immediately responds to the interviewer:
"Well, you know, it didn’t bother me because I’m one gender, honey, and that’s trans, okay?
"And at the beginning, middle, and end of the day, uh, you can put legal sanctions on anything.
"You can never ever change anybody's identity. You have the right to identify exactly however you choose to identify. Always."
An interesting thing about the clip and Ts' response is that it's just a standard TMZ clip, one where the outlet randomly spots and approaches a celebrity to ask a question — not a planned interview.
Ts had about three seconds to consider the question about the Trump EO, and her response was absolutely epic.
Fans on Reddit's r/rupaulsdragrace could not get over Ts' masterful response, and one observed:
TS Madison continues to be infallible, untouchable, quick and smart.
She is a voice the [United States] needs.
A user said that they'd love to see Ts in office in a political sense, and another agreed.
Ultimately, fans were highly impressed, and someone commented: "We can never get enough Ts. I hope to see her on our screens even more. [She is] such a beam of light."
Later in the video, Ts acknowledged the Executive Order and the rhetoric around it was "very dangerous" to marginalized people in particular.
Ts ended the spontaneous interview with a banger when asked about Nelly and Snoop Dogg's involvement with Trump's second inauguration, saying: "All money ain't good money."
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