Nicole Saphier // Fox News
Erin In The Morning is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a subscriber.
This morning, President Donald Trump announced that he would be nominating Nicole Saphier, a longtime Fox News contributor, to serve as the next surgeon general of the United States. Saphier has been an ardent anti-transgender voice, hosting detransitioners on her podcast, attacking the inclusion of a transgender researcher in a youth health study, calling being transgender a “fad” and a “trend” among youth, equating gender-affirming care with “promoting body dysmorphic disorder,” and declaring that transgender youth constitute a mental health “national emergency.” Saphier must now be confirmed by the Senate. She is Trump’s third nominee for the position—his first pick, Fox News contributor Janette Nesheiwat, went nowhere, and his second, wellness influencer Casey Means, stalled for months after senators questioned her lapsed medical license and anti-vaccine views.
“I am pleased to announce that I am nominating Dr. Nicole B. Saphier to be the next SURGEON GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” said Trump in a morning Truth Social post. “Nicole is a STAR physician who has spent her career guiding women facing breast cancer through their diagnosis and treatment while tirelessly advocating to increase early cancer detection and prevention, while at the same time working with men and women on all other forms of cancer diagnoses and treatments. She is also an INCREDIBLE COMMUNICATOR, who makes complicated health issues more easily understood by all Americans. Dr. Nicole Saphier will do great things for our Country, and help, “MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN.” Congratulations Nicole, our Country has long been waiting for you!”
Dr. Saphier has a long history of anti-science statements and positions. She has criticized the American Academy of Pediatrics for releasing an evidence-based immunization schedule that conflicted with the CDC’s revised schedule after RFK Jr. pushed the agency to stop recommending some childhood vaccines. She also owns DropRx, a nutraceutical supplement company selling unregulated herbal tinctures on Amazon, creating a potential financial conflict of interest for the person who would serve as the nation’s top doctor. Her 2020 book, Make America Healthy Again, became the cornerstone of RFK Jr.'s brand at HHS.
Saphier’s anti-science positions are not limited to vaccines. She has also taken a hard line against transgender people. In a podcast episode featuring a detransitioner, she called being transgender a “fad” and a “trend,” framed trans youth as part of a mental health “national emergency,” and suggested that children identify as transgender primarily because of unstable home environments and peer pressure rather than genuine gender dysphoria. She has also falsely equated being transgender with body dysmorphic disorder, stating, “A lot of these transgender medical interventions are the exact same way. It’s just another pathway of promoting body dysmorphic disorder.” The comparison is clinically wrong—body dysmorphic disorder involves a distorted perception of one’s own appearance, where a person fixates on flaws that are minor or nonexistent. Gender dysphoria is the opposite: a person perceives their body accurately, and the distress arises from the conflict between that body and their gender identity.
While the surgeon general has very limited direct regulatory authority—the position cannot make laws, issue binding regulations, or enforce policy—it is nonetheless one of the most influential medical platforms in the country. Surgeon General’s Reports and Advisories carry enormous weight in the medical and legal world. Should Saphier be confirmed, it is nearly certain she would use that platform to issue advisories or reports casting doubt on gender-affirming care. A Surgeon General’s statement declaring gender-affirming care for minors harmful would be cited by state legislatures drafting bans, by courts weighing the constitutionality of those bans, by hospitals looking for cover to shut down their programs, and by insurance companies seeking to deny coverage.
Saphier has already left her Fox News contributor role ahead of the confirmation process. To be confirmed, Saphier must first clear the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. Bioethicist Art Caplan of NYU told NOTUS that “the mere fact that she is a practicing doc is going to increase the chances of her success greatly.” If confirmed, Saphier would become the nation’s “top doctor” at a moment when the Trump administration is already waging an unprecedented campaign against transgender people—including passports, hospital threats, television characters, school forced outing policies, and more.
Erin In The Morning is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a subscriber.
From Erin In The Morning via This RSS Feed.
